Family dinner was proceeding calmly: casual conversations, cheerful dancing, music. Everyone at the table was smiling, and I was trying not to show how tired I was after a long day at work. My daughter sat nearby, picking at her salad with a fork, but she seemed tense.
And suddenly, I felt her fingers barely brush mine under the table. Then she quickly pressed something small and soft into my palm—a folded note.
I unfolded it under the table, trying not to attract attention. Written on the napkin in a childish, uneven handwriting:
“Mom, immediately pretend to be ill and get out!”
I started to panic. I looked up—my daughter was sitting upright, pale, her lips trembling. Not the slightest hint of a joke.
I didn’t understand anything, but something told me I had to do as my daughter said. I slowly raised my hand to my temple, allowed myself to sway slightly, and quietly said,
“Sorry… I suddenly felt sick… my head is spinning…”
My mother-in-law leaned forward, raising her eyebrows in surprise. My husband frowned.
I stood up, feigning weakness, apologized to everyone, and headed toward the exit, feeling my mother-in-law’s gaze literally burning into my back.
In the hallway, I leaned against the wall, my breath caught in my throat. 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 shining with tears. She grabbed my hand and whispered something that terrified me 
“Mom… Grandma wanted you to drink that juice. She put something in it… I saw…” her voice trembled.
“What exactly?..” My throat went dry.
My daughter swallowed:
“I heard her talking on the phone… that ‘it would be better this way,’ that ‘another girl for her son is pointless.’ She said that if you lose the child, ‘it will be easier from now on.'”
The world swam before my eyes.
“Are you sure?” I barely recognized my voice.
“She poured the powder out of the little package while you were talking to Dad. I was sitting next to her… she thought I was looking at my phone…”
My daughter sobbed.
“Mom, she knows you’re having a girl soon. And she said, ‘We don’t need another.’ She wanted you to lose the baby…”
My legs gave way, and I hit the wall with my back.
And at that moment, my mother-in-law appeared at the end of the hallway.
Her face was calm. Too calm.
“Have you come to your senses yet?” she asked, almost tenderly. “Should I get you some water?”
My daughter squeezed my hand so hard her knuckles turned white:
“Mom, don’t drink anything…”
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