Chapter 3 - The Toxic Dinner
A poisoned trap is set, but who will end up drinking the venom?The dining room of the San Ángel villa was set with the finest silver and crystal, yet the atmosphere was as tense as a courtroom.
Diego sat quietly, looking sullen and annoyed, while Fernanda forced a bright, plastic smile that didn't reach her eyes. When Rosa entered, Fernanda immediately stood up, offering a shallow hug that Rosa politely avoided.
"Mother-in-law! Thank you so much for coming," Fernanda purred. "We’ve realized how wrong we were. Family is everything, isn't it?"
"Indeed," Rosa said, taking her seat at the head of the table. "Family is very important. Especially when you realize who your true family actually is."
Throughout the dinner, Mauricio kept pouring wine into Rosa’s glass, urging her to drink. "To new beginnings, Mom," he said, raising his glass.
Rosa noticed that while her wine glass had been poured from a bottle already opened on the sideboard, Mauricio and Fernanda were drinking from a freshly opened bottle. She also noticed a subtle, powdery residue clinging to the inner rim of her glass.
They are trying to drug me, Rosa realized, her heart turning to ice. They want to make me look disoriented, confused, and unstable so they can call their corrupt doctor.
Using a moment when Diego spilled his water to create a distraction, Rosa swiftly swapped her wine glass with Fernanda’s.
"Oh, Diego, be careful," Rosa said smoothly, wiping the table with a napkin. "Now, where were we?"
Fernanda, distracted by her anger at Diego, reached for her glass and took a deep, long sip of the wine to calm her nerves. Within fifteen minutes, the effects began to show.
Fernanda’s eyes grew heavy. Her speech started to slur, and she began to giggle uncontrollably, pointing at the wall. "Mauricio... why is the wall moving? The wall is so... so funny..."
"Fernanda, shut up," Mauricio whispered, his face turning pale. He turned to Rosa, trying to cover up. "She’s just... had a long day. She’s very tired."
"She looks more than tired, Mauricio," Rosa said, her voice dripping with cold sarcasm. "She looks like she’s taken a heavy dose of a sedative. Perhaps the very sedative you bought to slip into my drink?"
Mauricio gasped, his eyes darting to Rosa's untouched glass, and then to Fernanda’s empty one. "You... you swapped them!"
"Did you really think I was that foolish, Mauricio?" Rosa stood up, looking down at her son with absolute disdain. "I raised you. I know every look, every lie, and every desperate move you are capable of. You wanted to declare me mentally unfit so you could steal my remaining money. But you have succeeded only in showing me how monstrous you truly are."
At that moment, the front doorbell rang.
Mauricio’s face drained of all color. "Who is that?"
"That would be the police, the paramedics, and my personal attorney," Rosa said calmly. "I called them twenty minutes ago, reporting that my daughter-in-law was having a severe, drug-induced medical episode. I believe they will find the remaining sedative pills in Fernanda’s handbag—the one I saw her hide them in earlier."
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Mauricio fell to his knees. "Mom, please! Don't do this! It will ruin us!"
"You ruined yourselves the moment you raised a hand against me, and the moment you decided that my life was worth less than your luxury lifestyle," Rosa said, walking toward the door to let the authorities in. "But the night is not over yet. Because while I was securing my bank accounts, I stumbled upon a digital folder you hid in our family cloud drive. A folder containing things you thought would remain buried forever."
