Chapter 15 - “I NEED AUDREY OUT OF THIS HOUSE”
Paige Holloway nearly did not provide the final message thread.
It felt too private.
Daniel did not pressure.
Then Paige read the recording transcript.
Particularly:
Then learn how to lie.
She changed her mind.
The messages spanned months.
At first normal marital venting.
Victoria:
Ethan is gone again.
Paige:
Tell him.
Victoria:
He says acquisition closes soon.
Paige:
You knew he worked.
Victoria:
I didn’t know I’d be raising someone else’s child while competing with a saint.
Paige:
Audrey wasn’t a saint.
Victoria:
Try telling Lily.
Later:
Victoria:
Maria corrected me in front of Lily again.
Paige:
About?
Victoria:
Audrey.
Paige:
Stop fighting dead woman.
Victoria:
Easy to say when she isn’t in every room.
Then:
Victoria:
I need Audrey out of this house.
Paige:
Meaning photos?
Victoria:
Meaning the entire emotional system.
Paige:
Therapy.
Victoria:
Tried.
Paige:
Family therapy, not just you.
No response.
Then July:
Victoria:
If Lily went somewhere structured for a while and Maria was gone, Ethan and I could finally have our own family.
Paige:
That sounds terrible written down.
Victoria:
You know what I mean.
Paige:
I actually don’t.
Victoria:
Reset. She comes back calmer. Maria doesn’t.
Paige:
Does Ethan agree?
No response.
That silence mattered.
Paige later told investigator:
“I thought she was venting. I should have pushed.”
People always said should have after.
Real life contained thousands of moments that only became warning signs backward.
Then one message shocked Ethan emotionally though not legally:
Victoria:
Sometimes I wish Audrey’s things had all disappeared before I arrived.
Paige:
You don’t mean that.
Victoria:
I do.
Then:
I want one room in my own marriage where she isn’t still standing between us.
Ethan read.
He closed laptop.
“I failed her too.”
Daniel frowned.
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“You can understand marriage failure without absorbing responsibility for her later actions.”
“I know.”
But Ethan finally saw Victoria’s loneliness.
He married after grief.
Assumed new wife would adapt.
Kept Audrey’s memory largely unspoken around Victoria, but allowed it everywhere through routines.
Never explicitly discussed role.
What does stepmother mean?
What authority?
What title?
How preserve Audrey?
What belongs to Victoria?
They improvised.
Badly.
Victoria wanted certainty.
Ethan gave delegation instead.
Maria wanted continuity.
Lily wanted both memory and safety.
No one held family meeting.
Instead power settled informally.
Victoria lost emotional competition and tried administrative conquest.
That phrasing came from Dr. Mercer.
“She attempted to solve attachment through control.”
Ethan nodded.
“Can therapy fix her?”
“That is not your decision.”
Good.
Marriage was likely over.
But he still wanted diagnosis that made ending easier.
None.
Victoria was not necessarily narcissist.
Not necessarily sociopath.
She had jealousy, insecurity, rigid control, resentment, distorted justification.
People did not need disorders to do damage.
Maria read only selected texts relevant to her.
I need Audrey out.
It hurt.
She whispered:
“She hated her.”
Dr. Mercer corrected:
“She hated what Audrey represented.”
“Difference?”
“Yes.”
Maria stared.
“Victoria barely knew Audrey.”
“Exactly.”
She hated position, not person.
The irreplaceable first wife.
The dead mother.
The standard.
Maria realized she had sometimes invoked Audrey like a weapon.
Audrey would never—
Audrey wanted—
Audrey used to—
She had made dead woman an authority no one could challenge.
That was unfair.
She told Ethan:
“I owe Victoria an apology.”
He stared.
“For what?”
“Not now.”
“Maria.”
“For some things.”
She did not contact due legal boundaries.
But wrote unsent letter.
I should not have used Audrey’s memory to win arguments. I was grieving, but I made you feel like every decision had to compete with a dead woman. That was wrong.
Then:
It still does not excuse what you did to Lily or me.
Both.
Maria saved letter.
Maybe never send.
Accountability did not require reconciliation.
At the same time, Ethan’s anger therapy moved.
Marcus asked:
“If Victoria begged for forgiveness tomorrow, what would you do?”
“Say no.”
“Why?”
“Trust gone.”
“Good. Can you do that without punishment?”
Ethan thought.
“I don’t know.”
“Learn.”
That was the work.
Not anger absence.
Power discipline.
Because Ethan had money, lawyers, social influence.
He could destroy Victoria’s reputation if he wanted.
Leaks.
Business pressure.
Social exclusion.
He chose not.
His lawyers issued no smear.
That mattered.
Victoria lost access through court process.
Not private revenge.
The story was becoming less emotionally easy.
May you like
Better.
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