The Price of Delusion

The echo of her desperate plea bled out into the freezing afternoon air.

But the damage was already done.

Near the main entrance, a few employees heading out for their break stopped dead in their tracks, their jaws dropping at the scene unfolding.

Down the sidewalk, passersby slowed to a crawl, nudging one another and whispering furiously as they took in the sudden, scandalous spectacle of a wo