My wedding to Liam was held at the Sterling family estate in The Hamptons – a limestone castle overlooking the Atlantic, where the sea breeze carried the salty scent of money. Everything was breathtakingly perfect. Imported white orchids from Singapore, a symphony orchestra from Manhattan, and 300 guests, all names that could be found on the front page of Forbes magazine.

I, Maya, a middle-class girl from Queens, stood at the center of this extravagance. My Vera Wang dress clung to my body, but I felt like I was wearing armor.

“Are you okay?” Liam whispered, gently squeezing my hand. He was handsome and elegant in his Tom Ford suit, his blue eyes gazing at me with affection. Liam was the sole heir to the Sterling empire, and his choice to marry me was seen as a modern-day Cinderella story. Or, as the guests rumored: an “accident” that the Sterling family had to accept.

“I’m fine,” I lied, glancing furtively toward the host’s table.

There, Eleanor Sterling—my mother-in-law—sat like a queen on a throne. She wore a silver-gray gown, her diamond necklace enough to buy the entire neighborhood where I grew up. She didn’t smile. Her gaze was cold and scrutinizing, as if waiting for me to make a mistake so she could kick me out the door.

Eleanor had never accepted me. She’d once offered me $5 million to disappear from Liam’s life. When I refused, she’d looked at me with contempt and said, “You’ll regret ever stepping foot into this house, Maya. This isn’t a fairy tale. This is a shark tank.”

“Time for a toast,” Liam said, pulling me toward the table.

The waiter poured Dom Pérignon Champagne into two Baccarat crystal glasses engraved with our names. Liam turned to speak to Senator Collins. I stood there, feeling out of place.

And that’s when I saw her.

Eleanor was standing right next to our table. Taking advantage of Liam’s back being turned and everyone’s eyes being on the band, she glided past me. Her hand lightly brushed the rim of my Champagne glass.

A very quick, very skillful gesture.

From between her silk-glovened fingers, a pinch of white powder fell into my glass. It instantly dissolved in the bubbling foam.

My heart stopped. What had she just done? Poison? A sleeping potion? Or something to make me vomit and humiliate me in front of the guests?

Eleanor turned around, meeting my horrified gaze. She didn’t flinch. She looked straight at me, her thin lips curving into a faint smile, then turned and walked back to her seat.

My blood boiled. Did she hate me this much? On her son’s wedding day?

“Now, everyone!” Liam’s voice boomed through the microphone. “I want to raise a glass to the most beautiful woman tonight. My wife, Maya.”

The entire room erupted in applause. Liam raised his glass. He looked at me, his eyes shining, waiting for me to raise mine.

I looked at the sparkling wine on the table. It still looked clear, still sparkling, but I knew what was inside.

I looked at Eleanor. She was staring at me, her hand gripping her string of pearls, her eyes intensely tense. She was waiting to see if I would drink. She wanted me to drink it.

A crazy, audacious thought flashed through my mind. Anger overwhelmed fear. I wouldn’t let her win. I wouldn’t be the victim.

“Liam,” I said loudly, loud enough for his microphone to pick up. “Before we drink, I want us to do a little ritual. A ritual of sharing.”

Liam was surprised: “Sharing?”

“That’s right,” I smiled, a cold, sharp smile I never thought I could make. “They say husband and wife are two but one. I want to drink from your glass, and you drink from mine.”

Before Liam could react, I snatched the glass from his hand and thrust my “poisoned” glass into his.

I glanced at Eleanor.

Her face changed color. The thick layer of makeup couldn’t hide her utter horror. She jumped to her feet, her mouth agape as if about to scream, her hands raised.

Ha, I thought to myself. Scared? Afraid her precious son would drink what she intended for me?

“Wonderful!” the crowd cheered. “Drink! Drink!”

Liam laughed loudly, thrilled by this unexpected romance. “Alright, for you, my wife.”

He raised the glass to his lips.

“NO! LIAM! DON’T DRINK!”

Eleanor’s heart-wrenching scream rang out, but it was too late.

Liam had drained his glass.

Chapter 2: The Collapse

The room fell silent after Eleanor’s scream. Liam put down his glass, frowning at his mother.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

Eleanor lunged forward, overturning the table, sending expensive dishes crashing to the floor. She grabbed Liam by the collar, her face pale. “Have you finished it? Make it down your throat! Quickly! Make it down your throat right now!”

“Are you crazy, Mom?” Liam pushed her away, brushing off his clothes. “What the hell are you doing in front of the guests?”

I stood there, still holding Liam’s glass, feeling a cruel sense of satisfaction. “What’s wrong, Mom? Are you afraid Liam will drink the ‘gift’ you prepared for me?”

Liam turned to look at me, then at his mother. “What gift? What are you two talking about?”

Suddenly, Liam coughed violently.

He fell.

He clutched his chest. His handsome face flushed, then turned purple. He staggered, his hands gripping the edge of the white tablecloth.

“Liam?” I cried out in alarm, dropping my glass of wine.

Liam collapsed to the floor, convulsing violently. Foam frothed from his mouth. His breath was a screeching, like a broken train whistle.

“Call 911! Is there a doctor here?” someone shouted.

Eleanor knelt beside her son, but she didn’t perform CPR. She rummaged through her tiny handbag, pulled out a small blue vial, and tried to pour it into Liam’s mouth, but he clenched his teeth in his convulsions.

I stood frozen. I’d thought it was just a laxative or an emetic to humiliate me. I didn’t think she’d dare kill someone in broad daylight.

“You…” Eleanor looked up, her eyes blazing as she stared at me. “You killed him! You idiot, you killed him!”

“Me?” I yelled, pointing my finger at her face. “You put the powder in my glass! I only switched glasses! You were trying to kill me, but Liam drank it!”

Police and paramedics arrived. But Liam Sterling died on the way to the hospital.

Chapter 3: The Interrogation Room

Two o’clock in the morning. I sat in the interrogation room of the East Hampton Police Department. My wedding dress was stained with mud and alcohol. I confessed everything. I said I saw Eleanor put the poison in. I said I switched glasses to defend myself. The security cameras at the party must have recorded her secretly adding the poison.

The door opened. Detective Miller walked in, looking tired and… confused.

“We’ve seen the cameras,” Miller said, sitting down opposite me. “It’s true that Eleanor put a white powder in your glass.”

“See!” I screamed. “Arrest her! She’s a murderer!”

“But,” Miller interrupted, placing a file on the table. “The preliminary autopsy results for Liam Sterling are in. And the test results for the powder left in the glass are also in.”

He stared at me.

“Liam died of cyanide poisoning. An extremely large dose, enough to kill an elephant.”

“There! She used cyanide!”

“No, Maya,” Miller shook his head slowly. “The powder Eleanor put in your glass… was activated charcoal mixed with ipecac.”

I was stunned. “What?”

“Activated charcoal is a powerful toxin absorber. Ipecac causes immediate vomiting. If you drank that, you would vomit violently, and the activated charcoal would absorb some of the poison in your stomach.”

My head was spinning. “I don’t understand… Why did she put the antidote in my glass?”

“Because,” a voice rang out from the doorway.

Mrs. Eleanor stood there, no longer possessing her usual air of pride and nobility. She looked a decade older, her makeup smudged by tears. She had been allowed in because she wasn’t a murder suspect.

“Because I saw Liam put cyanide in your glass earlier,” Mrs. Eleanor said, her voice hoarse and broken.

Chapter 4: The Truth About the Perfect Husband

I looked at my mother-in-law, whom I had always considered a monster. She walked closer, sat down in the chair next to the detective, and didn’t even look at me.

“Liam… my son…” she sobbed. “He’s not normal. He’s like his father. A sick man.”

She turned to me, her eyes now filled with nothing but utter pity.

“Do you think you’re the first, Maya? You’re his third wife. The two before… one drowned in the pool on their honeymoon, the other fell down the stairs and broke her neck. They were all accidents. They all had huge life insurance policies with Liam as the beneficiary.”

A chill ran down my spine. “But… you’re his mother. Why didn’t you report it to the police?”

“I have no evidence!” Eleanor yelled. “He’s too smart. He’s too clean. And I… I’m a cowardly mother. I tried to use money to get rid of you. I warned you this was a ‘shark tank.’ But you wouldn’t listen! You just threw yourself into it because of that blind love!”

She took a deep breath and continued.

“Tonight, I watched him. I saw him secretly swap your glass of wine with another one he’d prepared at the bar. I knew what he intended to do. He wanted you dead right at the wedding reception to create a perfect tragedy, a grieving widower.”

“I couldn’t snatch the glass back without causing a scene, and if I accused him without proof, he’d deny everything and then find a more sophisticated way to kill you. So I did the only thing I could think of.”

She looked at her trembling hands.

“I put activated charcoal and emetics in your glass. I wanted you to drink it. I wanted you to vomit right at the table. The party would be canceled, you’d be rushed to the emergency room, and the doctors would find traces of cyanide in your vomit. Then Liam wouldn’t be able to deny it, and you would live.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. I remembered her gaze then. Her eyes were tense, waiting for me to drink. She didn’t want to kill me. She wanted to save me in the only way she could against her monstrous child.

“But…” Eleanor looked at me, her eyes filled with resentment and pain. “You were too clever, Maya. You were too arrogant. You thought I was an enemy. You switched the cup.”

“You gave the cup of pure poison to Liam. And you…”

“Keep the glass with the antidote for yourself.”

I was speechless.

My act of “revenge.” My “cleverness.”

I had given my own husband the glass of wine he had poisoned to kill me.

Detective Miller closed the file. “Legally, Ms. Maya, you are innocent. You didn’t know the glass was poisoned. You only exchanged glasses as a gesture of affection. Liam Sterling committed suicide using the trap he set for you.”

He stood up. “You may go.”

I walked out of the police station as dawn began to break. Eleanor walked beside me, silent as a ghost.

“What will you do?” I asked softly.

She stopped, looking toward the distant mansion. “I will bury my son. Even though he was a monster, he was still my son.” “And you…”

She turned to look at me, her eyes returning to their usual coldness, but deep inside, there was emptiness.

“You inherited everything, Maya. You are the legal wife, and Liam died without a will. You have the money, the house, the Sterling empire. You won.”

She stepped into the waiting Rolls-Royce. Before the door closed, she said one last thing:

“But remember this, girl. You survived not because you’re smart. You survived because you were lucky enough to be the only one more ruthless than my son at that moment.”

The car drove away, leaving me standing alone in the biting morning wind. I had escaped death. I had become a billionaire widow. But when I looked down at my hands, I could still feel the weight of that cold crystal glass.

And I knew, for the rest of my life, I would never dare drink Champagne again.