Fear.
“Who is that?” I asked.
Adrian moved closer to the screen.
Marianne leaned in.
The woman did not embrace Victor. She handed him an envelope.
Victor said something. The camera did not pick it up.
The woman replied with one sentence.
The audio was faint, but clear enough.
“She would have wanted the truth told.”
Victor’s face hardened.
Then Serena appeared beside him, smiling too brightly. She took the woman’s arm as if to guide her away, but the woman pulled free.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
Several people turned.
Victor recovered quickly, placing a hand over his heart as though wounded by her distress. The woman walked away alone, her cane striking the stone floor with quiet, steady taps.
“Who is she?” I asked again.
Adrian did not answer.
Marianne looked at him. “Adrian?”
He was staring at the screen as if seeing a ghost.
