"They made me do it. They knew I came here with them, and they knew I still had ties there. My mother is sick. She has been sick for a long time. They told me if I did not obey them, they would stop the medicine that keeps her alive. I had no choice."
The lie came out smoother after the first few words.
That was because once Zara chose a path, she knew how to walk it fully.
Her breathing shook at the right places.
Her voice trembled.
Even the way she lowered her head looked pitiful enough to touch a softer heart.
"I only wanted to save her," she whispered. "I was trapped."
Nobody in the room believed her.
That was the funny part.
Not one person.
Even Ophelia, who had once wanted to see the best in this woman, stared at her now with open hurt and confusion. Ophelia's heart was soft, yes, but it was not blind forever. She could hear the lie in the way Zara had shaped it too quickly. She could feel it in the ugly wrongness still hanging in the room.
