Seraphina was trying hard to comfort Emma. Finally, she got tired since she wouldn't stop crying. Her patience was wearing thin. The sound of Emma’s sobbing had begun to grate like a sharp blade scraping against stone, and her eyes burned with both frustration and pity.
"Emma, it’s fine if you want to cry, you can cry," she said in a slow, heavy tone. "But answer me truthfully first… then you can go back and cry until your voice is gone, if that will make you feel better." She mumbled the last part while taking a deliberate step back, folding her arms, her gaze locked on Emma like a hawk.
Emma swallowed hard. "What did you want to know?" she replied, her voice trembling, shivering from fear as though every word was dragged from her throat with a hook.
"Did Vincenzo force you yesterday?"
