The Boston summer was humid, and Amy Collins had her apartment air conditioner running at full blast while she worked. Her Macintosh screen displayed the website design for a new client; Amy was building a reputation as a freelance web designer.
“Honey, there’s a message from my mother,” Thomas called from the sofa in the living room.
Amy involuntarily shrugged her shoulders. Communications from her mother-in-law, Patricia, often caused problems. “What does she say?” Amy asked without interrupting her work.
Thomas looked at his cell phone and answered, “She’s asking if we’d like to have dinner at her place next Sunday. She wants to celebrate your birthday.”
Amy took a deep breath. Patricia Collins behaved politely on the surface, but there always seemed to be something hidden behind her words. After three years of marriage, Amy had never felt genuine warmth from her mother-in-law.
“I’ll go if you want to,” Amy said. Looking at her husband’s face, she could see how truly pleased he was. Thomas was a financial analyst with sharp judgment at work, but when it came to family matters, he was strangely blind, especially regarding his mother.
“Wonderful! Mother has started to accept you recently,” Thomas said with a smile. “She even said the other day, ‘Amy has become a good wife.'”
Amy returned his smile, but inside she felt doubtful. It was unusual for Patricia to say anything nice about her. In fact, since their wedding day, Patricia seemed to treat Amy as “the woman who stole my son.”
“Is Vanessa coming too?” Amy asked about her sister-in-law.
“Oh, of course. She’s been living at Mom’s house lately,” Thomas answered casually. After graduating from college, Vanessa had held several jobs that didn’t last long and eventually returned to her mother’s home. Amy couldn’t ignore the coldness in Vanessa’s gaze toward her; those eyes were clearly filled with jealousy.
“Alright,” Amy said with a sigh. “Should we bring anything?”
“No, Mom says she’ll prepare everything. Oh, and she mentioned she’s preparing a special present for you.” Thomas’s voice sounded pleased.
Amy forced a smile. A “special present” from Patricia meant a sweater three sizes too small last Christmas. The Easter before that, it was a cake full of nuts that Amy was allergic to. They were all things Patricia could easily excuse with, “I didn’t know.”
When the weekend came, Amy met with her friend Jessica at a cafe. “You’re going to your mother-in-law’s house again?” Jessica asked with surprise. “Last time, didn’t she say something like, ‘There’s too much salt in your cooking, I’m worried about Thomas’s health’?”
“Yes,” Amy smiled bitterly, “but I understand that Thomas values his relationship with his mother.”
“Aren’t you his family?” Jessica frowned. “Thomas doesn’t say anything when Patricia and Vanessa always look down on you.”
Amy stirred her coffee thoughtfully. “He doesn’t notice. In his eyes, his mother is perfect.”
The day before her birthday, Thomas kissed Amy and promised, “Tomorrow will be a wonderful day.” As Amy lay in bed, she hoped it would be true, yet the accumulation of small insults and intentional disregard over three years had created an indelible anxiety within her.
Amy’s birthday morning began with a clear blue sky. While preparing breakfast, the intercom rang. “Delivery for you. Refrigerated package.”
Amy went to the door and received a package. Looking at the sender’s name, she saw “Patricia Collins.”
“Thomas, something arrived from your mother!”
Thomas, coming out of the bathroom, looked at the package with interest. “It must be a birthday present. Let’s open it!”
Inside was an elegant black box with “Chateau Chocolaty” written in gold letters. It was the name of Boston’s most luxurious chocolate shop.
“Wow, Mom’s being generous. These chocolates cost over $100 a box,” Thomas said, impressed. Inside the box, various shapes of chocolates were beautifully arranged with a small card attached. Amy picked it up and read, “Specially selected just for you.” The handwriting was Patricia’s meticulous script.
“See?” Thomas said happily. “Mom has finally accepted you, sending such expensive chocolates.”
Amy smiled but felt uneasy. She couldn’t believe Patricia would suddenly change. However, seeing Thomas’s happy face, she couldn’t voice her doubts. “That’s very thoughtful. I’ll enjoy them later.”
That evening, Thomas came home early and prepared a special birthday dinner. After the meal, while cleaning up, he found the chocolate box. “How about some dessert?” He opened the box and picked one up. “This looks delicious.”
Amy was tired. “I’m a bit full now. I’ll have some tomorrow.”
“Just one won’t hurt, right?” Thomas had already put the chocolate in his mouth. “Wow, this is really delicious.” He took another. Exhausted, Amy didn’t mind and went to take a shower. Unconsciously, Thomas sat watching TV, eating one chocolate after another until the box was empty.
The next morning, Amy woke up and went to the kitchen. “Good morning. I think I’ll try those chocolates now.” When she went to the living room, she found the empty chocolate box on the table.
“Thomas, did you eat them all?”
He nodded apologetically. “Sorry, before I knew it, I’d eaten them all. They were really delicious.”
Amy felt a little disappointed, but it wasn’t a big deal. Just then, the phone rang. The screen displayed “Patricia Collins.”
“Oh, it’s your mother,” Amy said, answering the phone. “Hello, Patricia.”
“Amy, good morning,” Patricia’s voice sounded brighter than usual. “How did the chocolates taste? I chose something special.”
Amy answered with a laugh. “Well, Thomas ate them all.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Then, Amy heard Patricia’s voice tremble. “What? Are you serious?”
That tone made Amy suspicious. Patricia’s reaction seemed to contain something more serious than mere surprise. “Yes, he ate them all last night. He said they were delicious.”
“I see…” Patricia’s voice was unexpected. The conversation ended awkwardly, and right after Amy hung up, Thomas’s cell phone rang. He looked a bit unwell but answered. A few minutes later, he returned to the living room, his face pale and sweat streaming from his forehead.
“Amy, I got a call from the hospital… I need to go right away… feeling sick…” Before finishing his sentence, Thomas rushed to the bathroom and began vomiting violently. With a trembling voice, he said, “Call an ambulance.”
Amy hurriedly called 911. Meanwhile, Thomas’s condition rapidly deteriorated. As the ambulance siren began to sound, his cell phone rang again. Amy saw it displayed “Mom.” A strange premonition was spreading in her chest.
The paramedics quickly entered. “He’s showing severe dehydration. He needs an IV immediately.”
“How long has he been showing symptoms?” one paramedic asked.
“He looked a bit pale when he woke up, but suddenly got much worse,” Amy answered. Then she remembered the chocolates.
At the hospital, Amy remained in the waiting room. Taking out her cell phone, she saw five missed calls from Patricia. Just then, the phone rang again.
“Hello, Patricia.”
“Amy, where is Thomas?! Why isn’t he answering his phone?!” Patricia’s voice was nearly hysterical.
“He’s in the hospital. He suddenly became very ill.”
“Which hospital?! I’m coming right now!”
Thirty minutes later, Patricia and Vanessa arrived, both looking distraught. “Where is he?! Where is my son?!” Patricia confronted the receptionist.
“They’re treating him,” Amy said, approaching them. When Patricia saw Amy, she flinched.
“What happened? Why so suddenly?”
“I don’t know. He was already feeling unwell when he woke up,” Amy said, and after a slight pause, added, “After eating your chocolates.”
The color drained from Patricia and Vanessa’s faces. They exchanged glances, and Vanessa bit her lip.
“Chocolates?” Patricia lowered her voice. “He ate all of them?”
“Yes, all of them. Last night.”
At this moment, a doctor appeared. “Mrs. Collins, we have the initial test results. He’s showing symptoms of severe food poisoning. There’s a stronger reaction than usual, so we’re conducting additional tests. Did he eat anything unusual?”
“He ate expensive chocolates last night. The box is at home,” Amy said.
“Could you bring that packaging? It might be necessary for testing,” the doctor said.
“I’ll get it,” Vanessa suddenly volunteered. Amy, though suspicious, gave her the address.
“Doctor,” Patricia turned to the doctor, “is my son going to be alright?”
“We’re administering an antidote now, just in case. The tests are showing some toxin reaction.”
“Toxin?” Amy’s voice rose. “What do you mean?”
“We can’t be certain yet,” the doctor chose his words carefully. “However, from the symptoms, we believe this isn’t ordinary food poisoning.”
Patricia collapsed into a chair. “No way…”
Two hours later, Vanessa returned without the chocolate box. “I couldn’t find it,” she said. “Maybe it was thrown in the trash.”
“It should have been on the living room table,” Amy frowned.
At that point, a man identifying himself as a detective arrived. “Mrs. Collins, I’d like to ask you some questions.”
“Police?” Patricia’s voice trembled. “Why?”
“Specific toxins were detected in Thomas Collins’s body. We need to investigate.”
“Last night,” Amy answered the detective’s questions, “expensive chocolates arrived from my mother-in-law, and my husband ate them all.”
The detective’s eyes turned to Patricia. “Where did you purchase these chocolates?”
“Chateau Chocolaty… but this is a misunderstanding…” Patricia’s face turned pale.
“Is there any packaging or remaining chocolates?”
Amy shook her head. “My sister-in-law went to get them, but she said she couldn’t find them.”
The detective looked at Vanessa. “You really couldn’t find them?” Vanessa sat uneasily in her chair. “No, they weren’t there.”
As Amy was about to go to the restroom, passing by a private room, she heard a small voice. “Mom, the plan is ruined.” It was Vanessa’s voice.
“Be quiet! She might hear us!” Patricia’s voice was low and angry.
Amy stopped, pressing herself against the wall.
“What’s going to happen to us if the police investigate?”
“There’s no evidence. You disposed of the box, right?”
“Yes, but…”
“Be quiet! Just pretend you know nothing. Thomas will recover. The amount wasn’t enough.”
Amy’s chest felt ice-cold. The horrifying truth was becoming clear.
When the detective returned to the hospital, his expression was stern. “We’ve recovered the chocolate box from a trash can. But not from your apartment’s trash can, Mrs. Collins. We found it in the trunk of your car, Miss Vanessa Collins.”
Vanessa tried to stand, but another officer placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Patricia Collins and Vanessa Collins, I’m detaining you for questioning on suspicion of attempted murder.”
Amy stood stunned. “Why?” she asked in a faint voice.
Patricia looked at Amy with cold eyes. “We won’t give Thomas to someone like you. That boy is our family.”
The hospital corridor was cold. Several hours had passed. The doctors informed her that Thomas’s condition was stable. Her cell phone rang. It was Jessica. After Amy explained everything, Jessica, who worked at a law firm, was silent for a moment.
“Amy, this is really serious. Traces of arsenic were detected in the chocolates. Think back. Has Patricia ever offered you food or drink, especially just to you?”
Amy thought hard. “At our wedding party, she brought ‘special wine’ and poured it only in my glass. I became terribly ill. And at Christmas, she gave me ‘special cookies’ just for me. I was bedridden for three days.”
Jessica’s face tightened on the video call. “Amy, you need to tell the police everything.”
A week later, Thomas was discharged. He had lost weight and still looked unwell. “Why would Mom do such a thing?” he mumbled repeatedly, unable to accept the truth.
Three days after discharge, Amy made a decision. “Thomas, we need to go to your mother’s house.”
“Why?”
“To find evidence. You know this wasn’t the first time, don’t you?”
The next day, they chose a time when Patricia and Vanessa would be at their lawyer’s office and quietly entered the house. In Patricia’s locked desk, they found a copy of Thomas’s new life insurance contract. The beneficiaries were Amy and Patricia, but there was a note next to Amy’s name: “To be changed.”
Deeper inside, they found Amy’s own life insurance policy, one she had no memory of, with Patricia and Vanessa as beneficiaries. From under the dresser, Amy found a small box. Inside were photos of her with needles stuck in them and various herbs and powders stored in small bottles.
On the laptop, the browser history included searches for “undetectable poisons,” “slow poisoning methods,” and “complete guide to life insurance fraud.”
Thomas sat down and held his head. “I can’t believe it…”
Suddenly, they heard the door open. “What are you doing?!” Vanessa was standing at the bedroom door.
“We’re keeping all of this as evidence,” Amy answered calmly. “Evidence that you and your mother tried to kill me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Vanessa, why?” Thomas stood up slowly.
Vanessa laughed, a sound mixed with sadness and hatred. “Why? Because everything changed after you married this woman! Our plans, our future! Her target was Thomas’s property and your insurance money. Your mother has taken out large loans in your name. They were in financial trouble.”
“Get out,” Thomas said, his voice trembling with anger and sadness. “Get out before I call the police.”
“This isn’t over,” Vanessa said threateningly as she left.
The final verdict was pronounced. Patricia Collins received a five-year prison sentence. Vanessa received a three-year suspended sentence.
“It’s over,” Amy said, exhaling deeply as they left the courthouse.
They had decided to move to a small town in Connecticut, away from Boston. It was a fitting place for a new beginning.
That night, in their new home, Amy shared surprising news. “We’re going to be a family of three.”
Thomas’s eyes shone with joy. “Really? When?”
“In six months. I confirmed it with a test.”
He embraced his wife. Lying in bed, Amy held Thomas’s hand. “I’m so glad I met you. Not eating those chocolates was the most fortunate decision of my life.”
Thomas laughed quietly and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Thanks to me eating them all, we discovered the truth.”
In the gentle moonlight, the two contemplated the future they would walk with their new life. It was the beginning of quiet happiness at the end of hardship.