Jamal's entire body stiffened. His ears rang, his vision blurred at the edges, and for a moment, he thought the world had tilted on its axis.
His breath came in short piercing bursts as his brain tried to process what he had just heard.
Dawn.
She was Dawn? The Dawn? His Dawn?
Jamal looked up at her. His head was spinning. His body felt too hot, too cold, too numb all at once.
How could she sit there so calmly when she had so easily shaken the ground beneath his feet. His entire world had just shattered and rebuilt itself in the span of a minute?
He opened his mouth, but he didn't even know what question to ask first.
"No," he whispered, shaking his head. "No, that's not… that's not possible. This doesn't make any sense." His voice was hoarse, strained, as if the words were being dragged from his throat.
Abigail's heart raced as she took in his reaction. "Why? You'd rather Genevieve is Dawn?"
Jamal didn't hear her. He couldn't. His ears were still ringing.
