Chapter 11 - I Had My Own Reasons for Ignoring What Spencer Was Becoming
Dad was not the only one with accountability.
Neither was:
Peyton.
Neither was:
Ava.
Mine was larger.
Spencer’s first arm grab.
I hid it.
Clue one.
Ava asking:
“Are you okay?”
I said:
fine.
Then saw her:
less.
Clue two.
Peyton warning about:
access.
I framed it as:
jealousy of Spencer’s influence.
Clue three.
Then the invoices.
I confronted the person potentially implicated before:
securing records
or:
telling our compliance team.
Why?
Because I wanted him to be:
innocent.
If I involved formal systems, there was no going back to:
normal.
That was my blind spot.
I had spent years telling everyone:
I am not just Victor’s daughter.
Spencer made himself the person who appeared to validate:
that identity.
So admitting he was:
controlling,
financially conflicted,
possibly dishonest
felt like admitting:
my father had been right.
Pride kept me in danger longer.
Not because pride causes:
abuse.
It doesn’t.
Spencer chose:
threats,
confinement,
coercion.
But I had treated every warning as a referendum on:
my competence.
So I defended the relationship when what I should have defended was:
my ability to leave it.
That difference changed:
May you like
everything.
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