Kent steps forward, eyes flat and blue and bottomless. “We know who posted the videos. We know where the account originated. It came from your apartment. In San Jose.”
The silence is a bomb. Jeannine’s face goes through three changes in two seconds—shock, then a quick scrim of calculation, then a watery smile.
“You’re insane,” she says, softly, almost sad. “Someone must have hacked my WiFi. It’s a shitty building, the super is always messing with the routers. Or maybe it was the last tenant, she was a little freak. Maybe she left spyware behind. But me? Why would I ever?—”
Kent holds up his hand, not even interested in the answer. “Nate Remington traced it, Jeannine. He’s a world-class penetration tester and a sociopathic genius. He found your device name. Hefound your email. He found your entire browser history. You’re the one who created those deepfakes.”
Jeannine’s mask is slipping now. Her hands go to her hips, fingers curled so tight the knuckles go white.
“You’re going to believe some nerd in Silicon Valley over your own wife?” she spits.
“We’re not married anymore,” Kent says, in a tone so flat it could be a death certificate.
She snorts, but it’s a dead sound.
“Mary Kate,” she says, wheeling on me again. “I am so, so sorry. This is all his fault. He’s been obsessed with you since you were sixteen, and he wants to keep you for himself. He’s probably doing this to isolate you, to make sure you never go anywhere. Don’t you see? This is how abusers work?—”
Kent actually smiles, and it’s terrifying. “You’re making shit up,” he says. “As usual.”
The mask comes off all the way then. Jeannine’s face goes red, her eyes glassy with fury.
“You two are sick,” she hisses, her voice climbing an octave. “Fucking sick. You think I don’t know what’s happening here? You think I didn’t see you, Kent, watching her every minute of every day? You think I didn’t hear the moans through the walls? You’re a predator, and she’s just—she’s just a dumb slut who doesn’t know any better.”
My ears ring. The words hit like ice water down my back.
“We never did anything while you were here,” I say in a low voice. “What are you even talking about?”
Clearly, my mom’s spewing lies and doesn’t care who she hurts. I try again, but she cuts me off as she turns to Kent.
“You could have just divorced me,” Jeannine says, now almost crying. “You could have just let me walk away. But no—you had to ruin me. You had to take everything. The house, the car, the friends. You even turned my own daughter against me.”
He shakes his head.
“I took nothing from you that we didn’t agree to beforehand. In fact, you walked away with a lot of support, which was part of the deal. We agreed that after the divorce, I’d provide you with generous alimony for life—which I’ve been paying and more. Soyou’rethe one who’s reneging on the deal.”
I can’t take it anymore.
“But even without the deal, I don’t get it,” I ask, my voice so soft I hardly recognize it. “Whywould you do this, Mom? Why would you want everyone to see me like that? You were supposed to protect me.”
She turns, and for a split second, I see the real her—tired, scared, old.
But then it’s gone. She bares her teeth.
“Because I hate you!” she hisses. “You’ve always been a little whore, Mary Kate. The way you dressed, the way you flirted with every man who looked your way. The way you ruined every relationship I ever had.”
I stare at her, genuinely shocked.
“Excuse me? I never flirted with anyone you dated! I was a child!Youwent through boyfriends like water for your own reasons!”
Jeannine hisses again, her face a mask of rage.
“Well, who would want to date a struggling single mom?Youruined my life, Mary Kate. I gave up everything for you. Your dad left, and then every subsequent man as well. You think I wanted to marry Kent? You think I wanted to move into this place, to freeze my ass off and pretend to be a real family? I did it for you. All of it. And all you ever did was steal. You stole Kent. You stole my life.”
I reel back like she slapped me.
“This is completely twisted and backwards. Youofferedme up,” I say, my voice hollow. “You told him he could have me once I turned eighteen, in return for a lifetime of luxury. That was the deal. You just had to wait.”
She laughs, brittle and mean. “Yeah, well, what do you expect? It was all he ever wanted. I just made sure you got the tuition, the car, the wardrobe in the process. You think you’d have gone to college if it weren’t for me? You think Kent would have paid a dime if I hadn’t made it part of the contract?”
