Chapter 9 - The Truth Unveiled
The trial was a blur of fluorescent lights and hushed whispers. The prosecution didn't just rely on my testimony; they had the digital trail of her past lives. Sarah had successfully tracked down landlords from the three previous cities, all of whom testified about the "coincidental" fires and the "troubled" daughter Meredith had blamed for them.
The most damning evidence, however, was the expert psychiatric evaluation. Meredith suffered from a severe attachment disorder compounded by pyromania; she derived a perverse sense of power from destroying her own environments, using her daughter as the ultimate pawn to garner sympathy from men she perceived as "saviors."
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When Lily took the stand, the courtroom went deathly quiet. She didn't look like the terrified girl in the Victorian house anymore. She looked at her mother—who sat in the defendant's chair, still wearing that fragile, rehearsed mask—and said, "She didn't love me. She loved the story she told about me."
The verdict was swift. As Meredith was led away in handcuffs, she didn't scream or protest. She simply turned and looked at me one last time, her expression a mix of hatred and a strange, hollow relief. She was finally finished with the act.
