“Selena, good heavens, what on earth did they do to you?” Rebecca gasped, standing up from her chair.
For the first time since the night before, her legs truly weakened, and she felt as if the floor might simply disappear beneath her.
“My husband and his mother thought that if they humiliated me enough, I would not show up,” Selena whispered, her voice cracking.
Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, her initial shock had already hardened into a cold, protective fury.
“We can postpone the defense, because no one would require you to appear today after such a traumatic event,” Rebecca insisted.
Selena shook her head, denying the offer with a finality that surprised even her.
“If I do not go in there and finish this, they win, and they win forever,” she said.
Rebecca stepped forward and held her by the shoulders with an almost maternal, grounding firmness.
“Then you are going in there, and after you finish, you are going to report them to the authorities for what they did,” Rebecca commanded.
By eight fifty five, the panel was complete, featuring Dr. Dominic, who was famous for tearing theses apart with a single calculated question, along with Dr. Samira, who was brilliant and incredibly tough.
There were also other academics, students, and colleagues from the department, but Selena avoided looking at the front row as she walked toward the podium.
She just wanted to reach the microphone before her body remembered that it was allowed to tremble.
