#Chapter 443: No Place for a Woman

Olivia “Dianna?” The name escaped my lips before I could stop myself. The door had creaked open, revealing an older woman with wisps of gray hair framing her face. She wore a pair of paint-covered overalls, beneath which she wore an equally-paint-stained orange sweater. Her eyes, wide with shock, were fixed on the painting I held in my hands. As our gazes met, a moment of silence passed between us, heavy with unspoken questions. Somehow, something about this painting that had been hanging over my mantle at home had struck a chord within her. I just hoped that it was a good chord. “Where... where did you find that painting?” The artist’s voice trembled as she spoke, betraying a vulnerability that contrasted sharply with the reclusive, almost mythical figure the town had painted her out to be. I swallowed. “My husband... He got it at a yard sale,” I explained, still somewhat stunned by her sudden appearance. “It’s been hanging over our mantlepiece for ages now.” She