CHAPTER 3 — MOM STOPS PRETENDING
At 2:14 a.m., I unlocked Mom’s door again.
She was waiting.
Not lying down.
Not pretending.
Waiting.
“I heard it,” she said.
I nodded.
“Good.”
She crossed her arms slowly.
“So what now?”
That was the moment I realized something important:
She wasn’t a victim waiting to be saved.
She was a witness waiting to testify.
I placed a small audio device in her sleeve.
“This stays on you,” I said.
She didn’t question it.
Just nodded.
Then she asked:
“When does she lose?”
I looked at her.
“When she believes she already won.”
Mom smiled faintly.
“That should be soon.”
The next morning, Vanessa escalated everything.
Police documentation forms appeared.
Power-of-attorney documents were ready for signature.
A psychiatric transport request had been scheduled.
Everything was lined up.
Clean.
Legal-looking.
Dangerous.
Vanessa kissed my cheek before I left for work.
“You’re doing so well,” she whispered.
I smiled.
May you like
“I’m learning from you.”
That was the first time she looked slightly uneasy.
