Chapter 10 - VANESSA’S MOTIVE
I finally understood why Vanessa had become so cruel to Mom.
Resentment.
Not simple greed.
Vanessa had spent three years telling herself she sacrificed everything.
Moved into Mom’s house.
Managed bills.
Handled doctors.
Coordinated repairs.
Cooked sometimes.
Drove Mom to appointments.
Those things were real.
Caregiving exhausts people.
Vanessa’s mistake was turning unpaid resentment into secret compensation.
Then secret compensation into entitlement.
Then entitlement into ownership.
By the time I walked into the kitchen, she no longer thought of Mom as the person she was helping.
She thought of Mom as someone indebted to her.
That was why the broken plate triggered rage.
It symbolized Vanessa’s private story:
I do everything.
She cannot even do this.
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It explained the slap.
It did not excuse it.
