Chapter 6 - Confronting the Monster
Two weeks later, the DA arranged for me to visit Teresa at the county detention center. Marcus advised against it, warning me that narcissists never offer closure, but I needed to do this. Not for closure, but to establish absolute dominance. I needed her to know that she had lost.
I walked into the stark, grey visitor's room. Teresa was led out in a bright orange jumpsuit, her wrists shackled to a waist chain. The designer clothes and smug arrogance were gone, replaced by stringy, unwashed hair and a pale, haggard face. Yet, the moment she saw me, her eyes lit up with that familiar, manipulative gleam.
She sat down behind the plexiglass and picked up the phone.
"Connor, my sweet boy," she cooed, her voice dripping with fake affection. "You have to tell them this is a misunderstanding. Tell them I was just holding the deed for safekeeping. Amy is the one who set this up! She’s trying to tear us apart!"
I picked up my receiver and stared at her. I didn't yell. I didn't cry. I just looked at her with pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Amy didn't forge my signature, Teresa," I said, my voice eerily calm and devoid of emotion. "Amy didn't steal $24,000 from me. And Amy certainly didn't let my son sit with a 104-degree fever while throwing a drunken party for parasites in my backyard."
Her face fell, the mask slipping. "I am your mother! I brought you into this world! You owe me everything! That house should be mine for all the sacrifices I made for you!"
"You made sacrifices?" I scoffed. "You systematically tortured the woman I love. You starved her. You isolated her. You put my son's life in danger just to fund a degenerate gambler and your own pathetic ego."
Teresa began to pound her fist against the plexiglass, her true colors finally showing. "She is trash! I was saving you from her! You’ll see, they’ll let me out, and I’ll take that boy away from both of you!"
"Listen to me very carefully," I leaned in, pressing my face close to the glass, making sure she saw the absolute finality in my eyes. "You are going to prison for a very long time. Mason is already squealing on you to the DA to save his own skin. They are seizing your bank accounts. You have absolutely nothing left."
Her jaw dropped as the reality of Mason's betrayal hit her.
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"You are dead to me," I finished, my voice steady. "If you ever breathe my wife's name, or look in my son's direction again, I will ensure Marcus bankrupts whoever is left in this miserable bloodline. Enjoy your cell, Teresa."
I hung up the phone. As I walked out of the room, her muffled, desperate screams echoed against the concrete walls. I didn't look back once. I stepped out into the bright Tennessee sunshine, and for the first time in my life, I felt truly free.
