Chapter 356
Julie's Point of View
I froze in my place with absolute rigidity and a sudden violence that completely paralyzed my limbs, so much so that the gasping words cracked and hardened like sharp glass shards in the tract of my dry throat. I felt as though my saliva had entirely vanished, evaporating into nothingness as I deeply contemplated the stony contours of his face, which remained frozen and devoid of any human emotion.
His thin lips moved once more with a calculated, provocative slowness, curving into a withered, frost-bitten smile. He spoke in a mocking, low tone that overflowed with a muffled relish of my misery: "What is the matter, my dear Julie? Why has this sudden paleness blanketed your face? Won't you greet your Uncle Thomas and clear the path for him?"
