She claimed she never believed he’d actually kill her. But his own messages showed he knew about the sedation, took part in the fraud, and locked the door the night of the fall.

She wasn’t innocent. She was just a guilty woman who’d learned too late that Bradley could sacrifice her too, the moment he was cornered.

The process took nearly a year.

Meanwhile, the old house started to change. I threw out the dried white roses, opened the windows, washed the cups from the wake, and planted sunflowers in the garden.

One afternoon we found a small box under Tanya’s bed — ribbons, storybooks, and a pink USB drive labeled in Katherine’s hand: For my little girl, when she misses my voice.

On the video, Katherine sat on the bedroom floor surrounded by toys, tired but smiling. “Hello, my love. No night is dark enough to erase what a mother has planted,” she said.