Tessa’s throat worked. “I didn’t know it would go that far,” she said. “I didn’t know Mason would leak it. I didn’t know Evan—”
“You knew,” I said calmly. “You just didn’t care as long as you weren’t the one bleeding.”
Tessa flinched like I’d slapped her.
“Let me see her,” she begged. “I’m her mother.”
And that line—I’m her mother—was the only weapon she had left.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
Lila appeared in the hallway, drawn by the sound.
She looked at Tessa through the crack in the door.
For a moment, Tessa’s face lit with desperate hope. “Baby,” she whispered.
Lila’s eyes didn’t soften.
Tessa’s voice broke. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I was scared. I was pressured. I thought if I could control the story, I could keep you safe—”
Lila interrupted, voice quiet. “You didn’t try to keep me safe,” she said. “You tried to keep yourself comfortable.”
Tessa’s tears spilled faster. “Please,” she begged. “Please forgive me.”
Lila stared at her for a long moment.
Then she said, calmly, clearly:
“I don’t forgive you.”
Tessa made a strangled sound. “Lila—”
Lila’s voice remained steady. “You don’t get a happy ending just because you’re tired,” she said. “You chose them over me. You used me as a bargaining chip.”
Tessa reached a trembling hand toward the door like she could touch her way back into motherhood.
Lila didn’t move.
“Leave,” Lila said.
Tessa’s face crumpled. “You’re my daughter,” she whispered.
Lila nodded once. “Yes,” she said. “And I survived without you.”
Tessa’s eyes flicked to me, pleading for backup.
I gave her none.
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