She turned toward the door, her hand hovering over the golden knob. She looked back over her shoulder, the resemblance to her dead mother so striking it made Madam Pedro gasp.
"So, Auntie... you will have to deal with me just like you dealt with my mother. And let's see if your precious Amara is as generous as you were. Let's see if she's willing to share her man with me."
"Amira, please!" Madam Pedro cried out, her voice breaking. "Don't ruin your life like... like..."
She couldn't say it. She couldn't bring herself to utter her twin sister's name. The name of the woman who had nearly destroyed her life once before.
The silence that followed Amira's exit was deafening.
Madam Pedro, Arabella, collapsed against the mahogany desk, her legs finally giving out. The name Amabel hung in the air like a curse, a ghost that had finally stopped haunting the attic and moved into the living room.
