Chapter 9 - Tessa’s Secret
Tessa came to Rachel’s apartment that night.
She looked terrified before I even mentioned Jenna.
“How do you know that name?”
“A woman named Linda Mercer contacted me.”
Tessa sat down slowly.
“Mom’s former bookkeeper?”
“You know her?”
“Yes.”
Rachel closed the apartment door.
“Tessa, who is Jenna?”
Tessa rubbed her hands together.
“My best friend from college.”
“What happened?”
“She dated my cousin Aaron.”
Margaret’s nephew.
I remembered him vaguely.
He had moved to Seattle years earlier.
“Jenna got pregnant.”
Tessa’s voice shook.
“Aaron wanted to marry her.”
“Margaret objected?”
“She said Jenna was unstable.”
The word landed heavily.
“What did she do?”
“At first, little things.”
Tessa stared at the floor.
“She told Aaron Jenna was stealing money.”
“She told Jenna Aaron was cheating.”
“She called Jenna’s mother and said Jenna had postpartum depression.”
“Did she?”
“She was exhausted.”
Tessa looked up.
“But no one ever diagnosed her with anything.”
“What happened to the baby?”
“Aaron got temporary custody after an argument.”
My stomach twisted.
“How?”
“There was a video.”
Of course there was.
“What kind of video?”
“Jenna screaming at Aaron.”
“Was anything cut out?”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
“Mom had been screaming at Jenna for twenty minutes before Aaron started filming.”
Rachel whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Tessa continued.
“Jenna lost temporary custody for six weeks.”
“Then?”
“Linda found financial records proving Mom had moved money from Aaron’s account and made it look like Jenna had taken it.”
The room went silent.
The pattern was too similar.
“What happened after that?”
“Aaron apologized.”
“Did Jenna forgive him?”
“No.”
A strange feeling moved through me.
Relief.
Not because Jenna suffered.
Because she left.
Because someone had survived Margaret before me.
“Where is Jenna now?”
“Oregon.”
“Would she talk to me?”
“I don’t know.”
Tessa wiped her eyes.
“I should have warned you.”
“Yes.”
“I was scared of Mom.”
“So was Evan.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No.”
Tessa looked toward Maisie’s room.
“I kept telling myself Mom would never do that to you.”
“Until she did.”
Tessa nodded.
Then she reached into her purse.
“I brought something.”
A small USB drive.
“What is it?”
“Copies of Mom’s family files.”
I stared at her.
“You stole them?”
“I copied them.”
“When?”
“After you left the birthday dinner.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“What’s on it?”
May you like
Tessa looked directly at me.
“Everything Mom has been collecting about you for three years.”
