As the old woman felt Heena's solid, warm presence, the manic energy suddenly drained from her fragile body. She trembled violently, losing all her remaining physical strength as she fell completely limp back into Heena's supporting arms. Samuel instantly moved in closer, his hand subtly hovering near Heena's waist to help absorb the old woman's weight without anyone noticing his intervention.
With the matriarch collapsed in a faint, the grand portraits destroyed, and a dead daughter standing in the flesh, the anniversary banquet was thoroughly, spectacularly doomed.
