Marrying the Man in the Dark

In truth, a pang of hunger gnawed at Cherise’s stomach.

The ordeal of last night’s car ride had sapped much of her energy.

She pressed her lips together and instructed, “Pop it in the fridge for me; I’ll eat it when I return.”

With a concerned glance, Frances slipped two packets of hot milk into Cherise’s bag. fearing she might grow famished on her way.

Cherise sipped on the warm milk, exiting the manor while settling into Mr. Kolson’s car.

Thirty minutes later, the vehicle pulled up at the research institute.

Just as before, upon stepping out of the car at the institute’s entrance, Cherise noticed her colleagues‘ furtive glances and hushed murmurs.

The unresolved plagiarism issue cast a pall over her interactions.

These silent judgments weighed heavily on Cherise’s spirits.

She hastened towards Heather’s usual workspace, milk in hand.

Heather had mentioned earlier that Mr. Whitlock sought to speak with her, prompting Cherise to head straight for his office.

twenty meters of the door, Cherise caught the sound of a

barely registered the first cry.

second one jolted her to action.

was Heather’s voice!

she rushed forward, flinging open the

greeted her shook Cherise to her

on the bed, stripped to her shirt, while Yolanda, clad in white, sat nearby, delicately puncturing Heather’s blisters with a

at Yolanda’s side, offering ointment

echoed earlier had been Heather’s cries

earth are

usually composed demeanor cracked

Yolanda deign to acknowledge her presence, her tone icy, “I’m attending to her

watched Heather’s distress, unable to suppress her anguish, “Attending to her?”

“Indeed,”

“This is the special balm Ms. Weiss procured. It promises to heal wounds within a

“Precisely,”

accepting the ointment from Mr. Whitlock and dabbing it onto Heather’s punctured blisters with a cotton swab. “It’s better to endure brief discomfort now than prolonged