Not pain.

She threatened me with you.

With losing Elodie.

She had it all worked out — she’d show you a clip of me snapping at her, out of context, exhausted, and she’d tell you I was cracking up, and she knew, because she’d watched you for months, that you would believe her before you believed me.

That was the trap.

It only worked because she was right about you.” She said it without cruelty, which was worse than if she’d shouted it.