Chapter 10: What Teresa Said
Three weeks later, Teresa's attorney requested a meeting.
Not a court appearance.
A meeting.
Pruitt called my attorney, a woman named Grace Ellison who had handled the case from the day after Frederick's birthday, and asked for a sit-down with both parties present.
Grace called me from the courthouse steps.
"He says Teresa wants to speak to you directly," Grace said.
"Before this goes to trial."
"What does she want?"
"He didn't say.
But he used the word 'resolution.' Which means she wants something."
"What do we have to gain from meeting her?"
"Potentially nothing.
But if she says something in that room that contradicts her legal filings, it helps us.
And if she offers something — a full confession, cooperation against Fitch, anything — it could accelerate the timeline significantly." A pause.
"It's your call, Connor.
You don't have to go."
I talked to Amy that night.
She thought about it for a long time.
"Go," she said finally.
"But I want to be there."
"Pruitt may object."
"Then he can object." She looked at me.
"She did all of this to me.
I'm not going to sit at home while you hear what she has to say about it."
We met in a conference room at Pruitt's office on a Tuesday morning.
Teresa was already seated when we arrived.
She was dressed carefully — not the new dress from the party, something quieter.
Her hands were folded on the table.
She looked at me when I walked in.
She looked at Amy for a moment and then looked away.
Pruitt spoke first.
"Thank you for coming.
My client has asked for this meeting because she would like to address some of the misunderstandings that have—"
"There are no misunderstandings," Amy said.
Pruitt stopped.
"Every document has been verified," Amy continued.
"The recordings have been authenticated.
The photographer has given a statement.
The email templates were recovered from the laptop.
There is nothing in this case that is a misunderstanding." She looked at Teresa directly.
"If you have something to say, say it."
Teresa looked at her daughter-in-law for the first time since we had walked in.
"I did what I thought was right for my son," Teresa said.
"You forged his signature," Amy said.
"You hired someone to photograph me while I was carrying his child.
You threatened me in writing.
You kept thirty-six thousand dollars that belonged to us." Amy's voice was completely level.
"Which part of that was for Connor?"
Teresa's jaw tightened.
"You don't understand how families work."
"I understand how yours works," Amy said.
"You control people with what they're afraid of.
You kept Betsy quiet with an old debt.
You kept Mason quiet with money.
You kept me quiet with those photographs." She paused.
"It worked for fourteen months.
It doesn't work anymore."
Teresa turned to me.
"Connor.
I am your mother.
Whatever mistakes I made—"
"You wrote a letter to my pregnant wife," I said, "telling her to leave quietly or leave with nothing.
You wrote that when Frederick was three months from being born." I kept my voice even.
"That's not a mistake.
That's a decision."
Teresa was quiet.
Pruitt leaned forward.
"My client is prepared to offer full cooperation with the investigation in exchange for a reduced charge on the forgery count.
She would also be willing to—"
"No," Grace said simply.
Pruitt looked at her.
"Ms.
Ellison—"
"The cooperation window closed when your client filed the motion challenging the search and submitted fabricated evidence to the court through your office." Grace gathered her folder.
"We're done here."
She stood.
I stood.
Amy stood.
Teresa spoke one more time before we reached the door.
"I never thought you'd actually leave," she said.
Her voice was different — quieter, stripped of the control she'd been maintaining.
"I thought you'd be angry and then you'd come back.
You always came back."
I stopped with my hand on the door.
"I came back before because I trusted you," I said.
"You used that up."
I opened the door and walked out.
Amy was beside me in the hallway.
She didn't say anything.
May you like
She took my hand and we walked to the elevator together.
Behind us, I heard Pruitt's office door close.
