Chapter 17 Rotten Apple

• Andrea’s POV
• Nina Vasques sat across from me, her posture rigid and commanding. Her squared shoulders and penetrating brown eyes bore into me with an almost clinical intensity. Her straight, jet-black hair grazed her shoulders, framing sharp, flawless features. She wore a deep brown dress that mirrored the shade of her eyes, a stark contrast to the coldness that radiated from her. The brightness of the dress did little to soften the chill in her gaze; there was no warmth, only icy disapproval that churned my stomach.
• I shifted uncomfortably, wishing I could escape her fierce scrutiny. She hadn’t spoken a word to me in the twenty minutes since she’d arrived. Half that time, she’d been instructing Ms. Ada on what to remove from the living room. When she finally settled into her seat, the silence didn’t abate. Instead, it grew louder, stretching like a taut wire between us. She didn’t look at me directly at first, only observed me from the corner of her eyes, her lips pressed into a thin, disapproving line.