“Mom, pretend you feel sick right now and leave!”
Panic rushed through me. I looked up — my daughter was sitting straight, pale, her lips trembling. Not a trace of a joke.
I didn’t understand anything, but something inside me told me I had to do what she said. I slowly raised my hand to my temple, let myself sway slightly, and whispered:
— I’m sorry… I suddenly don’t feel well… I’m dizzy…
My mother-in-law leaned forward, raising her eyebrows in surprise. My husband frowned.
I stood up, pretending to be weak, apologized to everyone, and headed toward the exit, feeling my mother-in-law’s stare burning into my back.
In the hallway, I leaned against the wall, breath unsteady. I waited for my daughter to come out and explain everything.
Ten minutes later, the door opened slightly and my daughter ran out — pale, her eyes shiny with tears. She grabbed my hand and whispered something that froze my blood 
Continuation in the first comment 
— Mom… Grandma wanted you to drink that juice. She put something in it… I saw her… — her voice was shaking.
— What exactly?.. — my throat went dry.
My daughter swallowed hard:
— I heard her on the phone… she said “it’ll be better this way,” that “another girl for her son is pointless.” She said that if you lost the baby, “everything would be easier afterward.”
The world blurred before my eyes.
