Martha opened her eyes and looked at her. Then she grabbed her hands tightly. "Angela, my little sister, I can't bear this evil… I might die…" she said, almost dragging the words from her mouth. Angela's blue eyes darkened. "Stop, what are you saying? Don't you think of me at all?" "I think of you constantly. For the last twenty-six years, I haven't stopped thinking about you." "Martha, come to your senses, don't let the pain crush you like this." "I want to talk to you… I have to talk to you, or I won't find peace even in my grave." "Talk to me, tell me what it is, say whatever you want." "I don't just want to talk to you… I want to confess to you… To tell you my big secret…" "Secret? What secret? We don't have secrets. We love each other. Isn't that right?" Martha tried hard to smile. "It seems that the years have softened your pain and you've forgotten. We used to hate each other…"
"Why are you bringing all this up now? Past is past." "No!" Martha suddenly said. "It's not like that. There is a secret between us that has been crushing me for years. It's something I tried to forget, I hid it from everyone. But I can't bear it anymore… The burden is heavy and I can't carry it any longer… You have to know…" "You said from everyone? Even from Mario?" "Mostly from him. If Mario found out the truth, he would hate me forever. I couldn't live with my son's hatred in his eyes. No, with my own child's." Angela looked at her carefully. She seemed desperate. Her brown eyes shone not only from the fever that was crushing her but also from the obvious effort she was making to speak about something she had been hiding so well for years.