# **A Poisoned Glass of Wine – in Anna's Breath**

 

The silence in the apartment was almost palpable, thick as lead. Anna stood at the table, her hands trembling slightly, and every breath seemed too loud. The crystal glass of red wine in her hand gleamed in the candlelight, reflecting not only the light but also her own fears.

*"It's now. There's no turning back..."* she thought, feeling her heartbeat quicken. Every sound in the apartment echoed in her head. The ticking of the clock became a sentence: **tick... tick... tick...** – counting down the seconds until her world would change forever.

Marek entered the apartment. His footsteps were quiet, almost imperceptible, and his smile – light and unconscious – stirred a mixture of anger and longing in her.

*"I can't go back. I can't turn back time. This is my moment... and its end."*

She handed him a glass of wine. Her hands were cold, and a thousand thoughts screamed in her head: **Will he feel? Will he understand? Will he look at me and see the truth?**

Marek took the glass. He looked into her eyes. In that look, Anna saw everything: the smile she once loved and the betrayal that had filled her life with shadow.

*"It's over. I can't go back. It's now or never..."*

The first sip. It was quiet. Too quiet. Every breath, every movement—every single one—felt like a death sentence to her, like ice in her veins.

His face suddenly contorted with pain. His hands trembled, gripping the table. Anna knelt beside him, her heart pounding in her chest.

*"There's no turning back. This is happening... Now... Now everything ends."*

Marek tried to stand, to groan, to grab her. His eyes searched for an answer. Anna watched him, her own breath mingling with his cry of helplessness.

*"I can't watch him suffer. But I have to. I have to see the end."*

A glass of wine fell onto the table, rolling across the white tablecloth, leaving a red mark – a testament to betrayal, revenge, and a decision that couldn't be undone.

Anna stood slowly, her heart still beating furiously. She took the glass in her hand and looked at him one last time. The silence was absolute.

*"There is no triumph. There is only emptiness… and I must fill it."*

Every step in the apartment felt like an eternity. Every breath outside was an exhalation of both relief and fear. The night was cold and windless, and the streetlights cast her shadow on the cobblestone sidewalk.

*"There was no choice. Only necessity. And now I can move on… but something remained within me. Something I will never understand."*

Anna left, and the apartment was filled with silence, thick and absolute – an echo of obsession, fear, and revenge that had changed everything in one silent gulp.