"Fay?!" The matriarch screamed, and grabbed her cane as she struggled to rise.
Fay stretched out a trembling hand to stop her.
"I'm– I'm fine. Just shocked," she stuttered, trying to calm her thumping heart.
She closed her eyes, and counted in her mind.
When she got to fifty, she felt the knot around her lungs loosen. Finally, she could breathe again.
The matriarch stood up anyway. She walked over to her, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"This must have come as a shock to you. It did to me too. Regardless, it doesn't justify or cancel out the harassment your mother had to endure in the hands of my son. Neither does it erase what he tried to do to you. That's why I'm punishing him in the worst way I could think of. I hope you understand me, Fay."
Fay's hands left her chest, as she lifted her head behind, to stare at the matriarch.
