Her thesis advisor, Dr. Rebecca Tran, was sitting by the coffee table when Selena entered the small departmental auditorium. Horror flashed across Rebecca’s face before she could hide it behind her professional composure.

“Selena—good heavens, what on earth did they do to you?” Rebecca gasped, rising from her chair.

For the first time since the night before, Selena’s legs truly weakened, and she felt as if the floor might disappear beneath her.

“My husband and his mother thought that if they humiliated me enough, I wouldn’t show up,” Selena whispered, her voice cracking.

Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, her shock had already hardened into a cold, protective fury. “We can postpone the defense.

No one would require you to appear today after something so traumatic,” she insisted.