At that moment, Victoria snapped out of her shocked daze like someone waking up from a bad dream. Her eyes blinked rapidly, her lips slightly parted as she tried to understand what had just happened. She stood in the middle of the room, frozen in disbelief, staring at the door Abigail had just walked through. It slammed softly behind her, but to Victoria, it echoed like a thunderclap in her ears.
"No… no, no, no," Victoria muttered under her breath, shaking her head slowly like she was trying to physically reject the reality. "This can't be happening. Abigail? That Abigail? She's backing down? Because of Cora? No, that's not even possible."
She turned around, pacing back and forth now, her heels tapping nervously against the tiles. Her heart raced. Her fingers clenched tightly into her palm. She spoke again, louder this time, her voice full of disbelief, "There's no way Abigail would suddenly pull out from this. Something… something must have happened. Something big."
