Chapter 8 - Tessa’s Final Confession
Two weeks before the trial was set to begin, I received a handwritten letter in the mail. The return address was a cheap motel on the outskirts of town.
It was from Tessa.
Inside was a single sheet of lined paper, covered in messy, tear-stained handwriting:
Chloe,
I don't expect you to ever forgive me. I know what I did was cowardly and unforgivable. I let Mom and Dad control every aspect of my life, just like they controlled yours. I pushed Sadie into those beauty pageants because Mom told me it was the only way our family mattered. When Maisie started crying that night, Mom handed me the crushed pill and told me to put it in her milk so Sadie could rest for her big day. I was too weak to say no.
Dad and Mom are blaming everyone else—the police, the media, you. They still don't think they did anything wrong. But looking at Sadie now, seeing her pack her bags to live with her father far away from this toxic town... I finally realize what monsters we grew up with.
I am pleading guilty to all charges. I deserve whatever punishment the judge hands down.
I am so, so sorry for what happened to my niece. I am sorry for what I did to you.
May you like
— Tessa
I folded the letter slowly and placed it on the kitchen counter. I didn't feel anger. I felt pity. We had all been prisoners in a house built on narcissism, emotional abuse, and conditional love. But while Tessa and my parents had chosen to remain trapped in their own delusion, I had broken the cycle.
