Page 133 of Undone

I wanted to scream, to run away from this monster, but I was frozen in place, trapped by the horror of his revelations.

“You’re telling me you killed your mother because she wanted money?”

“I killed her because she was awful. She shipped me off to some boarding school when I was just a kid, so she didn’t have to deal with me. Whenever I came home, she was always too busy with work or her current husband to even notice I was there. Every summer, I’d come back to find a new dad. She never learned her fucking lesson, so I had to teach her.”

The room went silent.

“So, I went to your dad again,” he continued, his voice taking on a gleeful tone. “For the first time, I told him the situation—who I was, what I had done, assuming he would have my back, but he didn’t. Instead of being grateful, he was upset and berated me.”

I shook my head, disbelief mingling with anger. “I don’t understand. My dad?”

“Yeah, your precious daddy,” he sneered, his lips curling into a twisted grin. “So, I had to change my plan. I had to sacrifice myself,” he replied, a chilling casualness in his tone. “I left you clues along the way, killing while I still could. It was all part of the game. I knew I had been caught and cornered, but I wanted to stall, to make your life as painful as possible. All leading to me here, confessing everything to make sure your dad pays, and you do too. The more madness I created, the more I drew your attention, the attention of the FBI. I wanted to extend this out as long as I could—make you suffer while I waited for your dad to come to his senses. He might think he’s clever, but deep down, he was as complicit as I was. If I ended up in handcuffs, he would too. That was the beauty of it.”

Tears blurred my vision as the weight of his words crashed down on me. “You’re insane,” I whispered, feeling hollow inside.

“This is your fault. It’s your dad’s fault. If I had never met you, none of this would have happened. If your dad hadn’t covered up for me, I wouldn’t have lived this life. If you had only gone with me, all of this could’ve been prevented. What better way to hurt you both than to take him down? The only person holding your little family together. You can’t escape this.”

“I can and I will. You turned my love into fear and my reality into a nightmare. But you don’t get to dictate my future ever again.”

I took a step closer to the glass, a rush of adrenaline flooding through me.

“You think you can drag my father into this mess, that you can place the blame for your actions on him? Whether he’s at fault or not. I refuse to let your twisted fucking games dictate my life anymore. This isn’t about you and your sick obsession and mommy issues. It’s about my life, my choices, and the people I love. I won’t allow you to destroy that anymore.”

With every word, I felt the weight lift off my shoulders, a sense of clarity emerging from the chaos.

“I’ve fought too hard to reclaim my life and find happiness, and I won’t let you tear it down. I control my story, my life. Notyou.”

I walked away from the visitation room, each step lighter than the last. I finally faced John, confronting the monster he had become—maybe the monster he always was, hidden behind the facade he put on.

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I leaned against the cool wall of the corridor, closing my eyes.

I stepped out into the lobby, the door closing behind me with a heavy thud, and everything that just transpired settled in.

John was behind me now—locked away, both literally and in my mind. But as much as I wanted to believe this was the end, I couldn’t shake the lingering unease that clung to me like a shadow.

Closure.

That’s what I’d come here for.

I finally stood up to him, faced the monster who nearly destroyed me. I spoke the words I’d needed to say for so long, told him that he no longer controlled my life.

And yet, as I walked down the hall, my mind kept circling back to what he’d revealed. The dark secrets about my father, the things I never saw coming.

My dad.

The thought twisted in my chest, tighter than I expected. I spent my life looking up to him, trusting him.

While my relationship wasn’t the best with my parents, it was always my mom I struggled to connect with, not him.

He was the one who was supposed to protect me, to shield me from the worst of the world. But apparently, he hadn’t.

Instead, he’d been part of it, complicit from the very start of John’s crimes. Not just a bystander, but someone who’d covered up a murder.

Someone who allowed this to happen, hoping it would all go away, hoping he could contain it. I wanted to be angry with him. I wanted to scream, to cry, to let out all the hurt and betrayal that was lodged deep in my heart.

But as much as I wanted to be angry with him, there was something else. Something more complicated. I couldn’t deny the hurt, the betrayal.

Did my mom know? Or was this secret kept from her too?

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