And so, in the purest way, my stepmother built the instrument of her own destruction out of nothing but her contempt for me — handing me, through sheer indifference, the very position, the access, and the unwatched time I needed to take her apart.

There is a strange justice in it that I have never gotten over.

She did not lose because I outmaneuvered her, not really.

She lost because she never once considered me worth the effort of maneuvering against at all.

Chapter 5 — I Ran

When I stood up from that table, two heavy-set men appeared, as if from nowhere, near the exit doors.

“Sit down, Jessi,” Wendy ordered, and the warmth was entirely gone from her voice now.