By Monday, the street felt different. Curtains lingered, conversations faltered, and even ordinary footsteps seemed accusatory. Melissa tried to act normal, but normal now felt like a performance under quiet scrutiny.
The rumor lived in silence—awkward greetings, forced distractions, laughter fading when she appeared. No one said it outright, which made it heavier. In the end, the hardest part wasn’t whether they believed it, but that she had finally become something worth talking about—and she couldn’t tell if that feeling was shame or relief.
