But Sarena seemed to have been pulled into a vortex of memories so deep that the rest of the story simply would not leave her lips. Her body was trembling, bearing silent witness to how horrific whatever was happening to her sister Luciana truly was at that very moment.
Lily, who until now had been watching Sarena with suspicion, was left stunned as well. She realized that sometimes, in a person's life, calamities arrive one after another with such cruelty that death itself begins to feel kinder than living—exactly what had happened to Luciana. One disaster after another had torn her away from her family and drawn her closer to a doll, a bond whose price Luciana might yet have to pay in her future.
Even after a long while, Sarena remained lost in her thoughts, silent, unable to speak another word.
Just then, to pull Sarena out of her thoughts, Mercy asked gently, "What happened next, Sarena? Was there something wrong with that doll?
