Sophia did not answer.
She turned and walked away, feeling his eyes on her back.
She was empty inside.
The victory brought no joy.
There was no escape from justice.
Just exhaustion.
That evening Lucy called.
“I heard the detective confirmed it. It’s her.”
“Not.”
“Sophia, you can be happy. Justice has been served.”
“I think so.”
“What’s wrong with you? You sound so gloomy.”
Sophia sighed.
“Lucy, my mother-in-law tried to kill me. It took my husband weeks to decide who to believe. Even now, when everything has been proven, I’m not sure he’ll forgive me for destroying his family. What’s left to celebrate?”
Lucy was silent.
“Do you think your marriage…”
“I don’t know.” “
Honestly, I don’t know.
“Do you want to save this marriage?”
The question hung in the air.
Sophia thought about it.
She really wanted this.
Three years of love.
Three years of living together.
Alex wasn’t a bad husband—weak, indecisive, too dependent on his mother—but he wasn’t bad either.
He loved her in his own way, as best he could.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly.
“I used to love you. But now too much has happened.”
“Maybe you should talk without emotion. Maybe when he’s ready.”
Alex was ready the next day.
He arrived in the afternoon with flowers and a guilty look.
Sophia opened the door and let him in without a word.
“I saw Mom,” he said, sitting on the couch.
“We talked for two hours, and she really got through it. She told me everything, without apology, without blaming anyone.
Sophia sat in the armchair opposite him.
“What did she tell you?”
Alex took a deep breath.
“That she hated you from day one, that she thought you unworthy of me, that I was her only son, and that she couldn’t bear it if another woman took me away from her. And that’s why she decided to poison you. She said she didn’t want to kill you, she just wanted to make you sick.”
“Alex, thallium is deadly. If I had worn this pendant for a few more months…”
“I know”.
His voice broke.
“I know. And I… Oh, Sophia, what an idiot I was. I didn’t believe you. I stood up for her when I should have stood up for you.”
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