Chapter 13 - Marianne Wanted to Blame Grant for Everything
Marianne eventually claimed Grant taught her the punishment.
Partly true.
She said she merely followed his parenting rules.
Also partly true.
Then she claimed every cruel phrase Ava remembered came directly from him.
That was not true.
The messages showed Marianne escalating beyond what Grant said.
She enjoyed the control.
The “extra minutes.”
The threats about me never coming.
The satisfaction of making Ava stop crying.
Grant’s approval created permission.
Marianne’s personality turned permission into cruelty.
Both were responsible differently.
I refused to let the family simplify the story into one villain and one victimized adult.
Grant had been harmed as a child.
He had also harmed his daughter through what he permitted.
Marianne had not invented his wound.
She had weaponized it.
And Ava had caused none of it.
That last fact was the one we repeated most often around her.
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Because children are experts at believing adult conflict somehow began with them.
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