“So you’ll just let Brittany get bullied because I show her a little favoritism?” Paisley’s voice rose, cutting Christina off. “You want to strangle me, right?” She’d heard this countless times. The usual apathy had vanished. Facing these society matrons and the police, she decided to fight back.

“Selfish?” Paisley locked eyes with her mother. “I’m your daughter. Lost at three, found at seventeen. Fourteen years gone. Any mother would try to make amends. But you?”

Christina flinched, avoiding Paisley’s gaze. “What did I do wrong? Didn’t I raise you well? This isn’t the time for this! It’s about Brittany!”

“It’s always about Brittany! When I was seventeen, Brittany fought another girl. Her parents came, and you threw me under the bus. Said Brittany was impulsive, that I should help her. I was beaten for half an hour. I couldn’t stand, and you said the injuries were minor!”

Paisley’s voice trembled with barely contained rage. "Gregory asked, and you blamed me! I got a warning from him, all because you protected Brittany."

“That was such a small thing! You’re just petty!” Christina sputtered, searching for excuses.

“Petty? That’s why I remember everything! When Brittany was eighteen, jealous of the girl who got into film school, she deliberately took her down ice skating. The skate blade… slashed her face.”

A gasp rippled through the onlookers. “Her face was ruined? How could she act?” one lady whispered, horrified.

“Terrifying!” another agreed. “This woman is monstrous!”

Brittany’s face blazed crimson. “I–I didn’t mean to!” she stammered.

“You ruined her life!” Diana snapped.

Paisley turned back to Christina, her voice sharp. “And what did you do, Mother? Brittany ruined that girl’s life, and you…” Christina shifted uncomfortably, murmuring, “Brittany didn’t mean to. She was scared. Shouldn’t you help her?”