After some sharp words from Merisa, Maria just went completely silent.
Her head stayed lowered, unmoving, as if something heavy had been placed on the back of her neck. Tears didn't slow, didn't stop ..they kept falling, one after another, soaking into nothing, because there was nowhere for them to go. Merisa's words hadn't just hurt her. They had gone straight through her defenses and struck the most sensitive part of her existence, the place she never let anyone touch. It wasn't anger that broke her. It was the fear.. The shame.. raw, humiliating, suffocating shame the kind that makes even breathing feel like a mistake.
Merisa just looked at Maria with disappointment and said nothing.
Her gaze lingered only briefly, detached, distant, as if Maria's pain was something unfortunate but unavoidable. Then she looked away, as though the matter had already been decided in her mind.
Sofia frowned when she saw Maria like that.
