He paused, then continued.
“She doesn’t know anything. And I want it to stay that way until the very last moment.”
I froze.
That night, Daniel once again brought me my drink.
“Drink it, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want to.”
His expression became serious.
“Margaret, please. Tonight is especially important.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer.
For the first time, I saw something in his eyes that genuinely frightened me.
Desperation.
After Daniel fell asleep, I picked up his phone.
Among his messages, I found one that read:
“Tomorrow at 10 a.m. Everything is ready. Please make sure Margaret doesn’t suspect anything.”
The message had been sent by a doctor.
And Daniel’s reply was even more disturbing.
“I’m prepared to do whatever it takes. Even if she hates me afterward.”
That night, I decided to leave.
But the following morning, as I walked downstairs carrying my bag, Daniel was already waiting in the hallway.
He looked at my suitcase, then at my face.
“You found out everything, didn’t you?”
I began trembling.
“Don’t come near me.”
He stopped immediately.
“Margaret, I can explain.”
“You’ve been putting something in my drink every night. I took it to a laboratory. I know what you’ve done.”
Daniel’s face went completely white.
“You went to a laboratory?”
I nodded.
He suddenly sat down on the stairs and buried his face in his hands.
Then he began crying.
“Oh, God… Then I’m too late.”
I was about to call the police when he pulled an old photograph from his pocket.
It showed a young woman holding a little boy.
“Do you recognize this woman?”
I looked closely.
And my heart nearly stopped.
It was my best friend, Sarah.
She had died more than thirty years ago.
“Where did you get this photograph?”
Tears streamed down Daniel’s face.
“Because that little boy is me.”
I slowly sank onto the stairs.
Daniel continued.
“When my mother died, I was adopted. Only years later did I discover that you were the woman who cared for me for months while my mother was in the hospital. You were never a stranger to me, Margaret.”
I remembered that little boy.
He had been only a few years old.
I had fed him, told him bedtime stories, and rocked him to sleep.
But after Sarah died, her relatives took the child to another city, and we lost contact.
“You’re that little boy?” I whispered.
Daniel nodded.
“I recognized you during our second meeting. But I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d think our relationship was only about an old debt. I genuinely fell in love with you.”
Then he opened his phone and showed me several medical documents.
“Six months ago, I discovered that the old water system in our mansion was damaged and could be contaminating the water. You were already experiencing weakness and dizziness, so I arranged for testing.”
