gh wooden planks of the wall, right beside Coretta's ear. She leaned
Coretta's, stripping away every layer of fake poise, digging
eaten. She spoke in a whisper so soft it barely
pir
ng between them li
lood drained from her face, leaving her skin a sickly, waxen gray. Her fingers went ne
. Her teeth chattered. She stared at Ginny as though she were s
red, her voice trembling-and instantly froze, pressing her spine hard against the
r voice a pathetic, reedy squea
e brutal seconds, letting the terr
ering the suffocating tension in an instant. The cold, predatory mask vanis
a little pale, sister. Like you have a headac
reasy sheen of cold sweat glazed her forehead. Her heart
pi
into Anjanette's daily vitamin capsules for months. A severe, life-threatening trigger fo
is so brutally that the maid crashed against the doorframe with a yelp. Coretta bolted for the door, her designer heels clattering wildly
ng to the frantic, ungraceful footsteps fade i
, picked the dress up with two fingers as though it were contaminated, a
hed it shut, and slid the rusty iron dead
y double doors and hit the electronic lock with a shaking, frantic finger. She ran across the plu
n the four-digit code. The bottom drawer clicked open. She shoved past v
ir, stumbled into her en-suite marble bathroom, and slammed the toilet lid u
cold marble sink, watching the water churn and swirl. She didn't
ed mirror. Her hair was a wreck. Her mascara had smeared into dark h
nails bit into her palms. The terror curdling in her chest beg
a didn't understan
bliterated. Tomorrow night, at the banquet, Coretta would make
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