Convicted of assaulting and killing dozens of people.
I understood Ezra's plan in an instant.
My heart had gone cold long ago, but in that moment it tore apart as though pierced by a thousand blades.
Denise stood a short distance away, dangling the key to the lock between her fingers, smiling at me.
Tears spilled down my face before I could stop them. I screamed at her:
"Denise! Why won't you leave me alone? Why are you doing this to me? I'm your sister!"
Rage twisted her features:
"You have the nerve to ask me why? Our whole lives, Mom and Dad favored you over everything!"
"You think I don't know? They sold every acre of land the family had! All that money went straight to your dowry so you could marry well!"
"Why do you get to have everything while I get nothing?"
"They were so desperate to marry you off to someone good! So I'll make sure you end up abandoned! I'll make you lose everything, just like me! I'll make you suffer for the rest of your life!"
Her words hit me like a bucket of ice water.
I couldn't stop shaking. Despair carved itself across my face:
"Denise! What makes you think they favored me? Ask yourself where your college tuition came from! When you were living it up in the city, where do you think all that money for your expenses came from?"
"Do you have any idea that to put you through school, Mom and Dad tore up my college acceptance letter with their own hands? Because this family could only afford to send one of us!"
"Do you have any idea why I was married off so young? It was because they promised to pay your tuition! That's the only reason they gave me away!"
My words didn't provoke the slightest reaction from Denise. She just let out a cold laugh.
"So what? If they'd never had you, I would've gotten even more."
"Shelagh, when it comes down to it, you're the one who should never have been born. But that's fine. Now that you're dead, everything you had is mine."
She threw her head back and laughed.
"I should really thank you for landing such a wonderful man. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known where to find a good father for my baby."
"Don't worry. He and I are going to be very happy together."
Her face twisted into something grotesque as she turned to the convicts.
"When you're done with her, strip her naked and dump her on the road. I want everyone to know the bride couldn't keep her legs closed on her wedding night. That she slept around like a whore!"
"No!!"