Harrison, the estate attorney, looked like a man who had just realized he was standing on a landmine. He hastily, frantically gathered his useless legal papers, shoving them into his briefcase with trembling hands, desperate to distance himself from the radioactive fraud he had just unknowingly facilitated.
Melissa stood frozen against the wall, staring at me as if she were looking at a demon summoned from the floorboards. Her polished, arrogant veneer had entirely evaporated.
A heavy-set nurse looked at her gently, but firmly grabbed her arm. “Ma’am, you need to wait outside. Please.”
Melissa glanced toward the bed. Victor, amidst the flurry of medical staff tearing open his gown, managed to turn his head slightly. He met her gaze and gave the smallest, most defeated nod I had ever witnessed before his eyes rolled back into his head, succumbing to the darkness of his failing organs.
As Melissa stumbled out into the hallway, leaving her precious crocodile Hermès bag knocked over and forgotten on the floor, the horrifying reality of her new life began to set in.
