“I have.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because I spent my entire life changing my story whenever the truth became uncomfortable. I’m not doing that anymore.”
I watched her carefully.
“You could be trying to receive a lighter sentence.”
“I probably am, partly. I don’t trust my own motives yet.”
It was the most honest thing I had ever heard her say.
She looked up.
“I laughed when Marcus hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“I keep hearing that laugh.”
I remained silent.
“I thought being cruel would prove I was strong,” she said. “I thought if I chose his side, he would protect me.”
“He did not.”
“No.”
Tears gathered in her eyes.
“I am sorry.”
The words still did not repair the past.
But this time, they were not offered as a key to escape consequences.
They were simply the truth.
“I hope one day you become a person who would never do it again,” I said.
