Chapter 9 - PARENTS OF THE DECEIVED
Ten minutes later, my parents arrived home from their Black Friday shopping trip, walking into a house filled with police officers, flashing cruiser lights outside, and paramedics working over me at the kitchen table. When my mother saw the ruined insulin vials in the sink and heard Aunt Sophie play back the audio recording of Nora’s blackmail, she let out a broken, shuddering sob and collapsed against the counter.
My father didn't cry. He looked at Nora—the daughter he had defended, excused, and protected through months of fake illnesses—with a look of cold, permanent detachment that hurt worse than physical violence. The illusion was entirely shattered. There were no more excuses left to give.
