“What is this?” she whispered.
“This, my dear friend, is the explanation for your illness. A microcapsule containing a substance released upon contact with body heat. You wear the pendant on your chest—the warmest spot. The capsule heats up. The walls become permeable, and the poison slowly but surely penetrates the skin.”
Sophia felt like she was about to faint.
Richard quickly sat her down in a chair and handed her a glass of water.
“Inhale. Take a deep breath.”
“Who? Who did this?”
“I don’t know, but I can tell you for sure that this wasn’t a manufacturing defect or an accident. Someone deliberately modified this jewelry to harm you.”
“But it’s a gift from my husband. He couldn’t do it…”
The jeweler raised his hand.
“I’m not saying your husband did it…”
It was the look of someone hiding a secret.
A terrible secret.
She was silent on the way home. Alex, already accustomed to her gloomy mood after her visits to his mother, asked no questions.
He turned on the radio and focused on the road.
“Alex,” Sophia said suddenly.
“If you had to choose between your mother and me, who would you choose?”
He looked at her in surprise.
“What kind of question is that?”
“Just answer.”
Alex remained silent.
“Sophia, this isn’t fair. You’re both important to me. You don’t have to put me in this position.”
“What if it were necessary?”
Silence.
“So I hope I never have to experience that.”
That wasn’t an answer.
And Sophia understood that when the time came, her husband would not be on her side.
He will try again to please them both.
He will choose neutrality again.
And then she will be alone.
The analysis results arrived five days later.
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