Nina froze.
One second.
Then the spoon in her hand slipped from her fingers and fell onto the table with a sharp clatter.
"Mother?"
Her heart began pounding loudly against her chest. She couldn't breathe. She tried to speak, but no other words would leave her lips. Her eyes remained fixed on the woman standing before her, as though looking away for even a second might make her disappear.
The woman's eyes shifted toward her and stayed there for a long moment.
There was no reaction on her face. No shock. No surprise. No sudden rush of emotion at seeing the daughter she had not seen since she was born.
Nothing.
"I thought…" Nina's voice came out weak. She pushed herself to her feet, her hands shaking helplessly by her sides. "I thought my mother was dead."
The words hung heavily in the air.
Isabelle stared at her for a long moment. Then, she began walking toward the table.
Nina held her breath as she watched her mother approach.
Her mother.
