Chapter 12 - Jenna's Version.
Jenna asked to speak with Emily.
Rachel said no.
Emily said yes.
They compromised on one condition.
The conversation would take place at Rachel's office with Rachel present and Detective Morales aware of it.
Jenna arrived without makeup and with her hair tied back.
She looked younger than she had at the diner.
She also looked terrified.
Emily did not offer her a hug.
"Why did you push the stroller?"
Jenna started crying immediately.
Emily remained still.
"Please don't begin with tears."
Jenna wiped her face.
"You're right."
"Answer me."
"Ryan told me the plan was still happening."
"When?"
"Around three-forty."
"He told Patricia it was canceled at three-forty-six."
Jenna nodded.
"He never told me."
"You saw the fire pit."
"Yes."
"It was burning."
"Yes."
"And you still touched the stroller."
Jenna's voice broke.
"I thought the brake would hold it after a few feet."
Emily stared at her.
"That sentence makes no sense."
"Ryan said he'd adjusted it so it would roll slowly."
"Ryan wasn't outside."
"I thought he'd come running when he saw it."
"From inside the house?"
Jenna closed her eyes.
"I know how stupid it sounds."
"It doesn't sound stupid."
Emily leaned forward.
"It sounds like you chose a video over my baby."
Jenna cried silently.
Rachel spoke for the first time.
"What did Patricia hand you?"
Jenna looked up.
"A shot list."
Emily's heartbeat changed.
"What was on it?"
"Camera angles."
"And?"
"Where I should stand."
"And?"
Jenna hesitated.
Rachel's voice sharpened.
"This is the part where leaving something out becomes a very bad idea."
Jenna swallowed.
"It said I should give the stroller a light push if Ryan wasn't in position yet."
Emily felt cold.
"Patricia gave you that after she agreed to cancel?"
"I didn't know she'd agreed to cancel."
"That's not what I asked."
"Yes."
Emily sat back.
Patricia had told Ryan "good" when he canceled the stunt.
Then she had apparently handed Jenna instructions that kept it alive.
"Do you still have the paper?"
Jenna shook her head.
"Patricia took it back after the accident."
Rachel made a note.
"Did she say anything?"
"She told me not to panic."
"Exact words."
Jenna thought.
"She said, 'Nobody got hurt, so don't create a bigger problem.'"
Emily closed her eyes.
The anonymous text echoed again.
The baby is safe.
Be grateful.
She opened her eyes.
"Did you send me those messages?"
Jenna looked genuinely confused.
"What messages?"
Emily showed her.
Jenna's face drained of color.
"No."
"Do those words sound familiar?"
Jenna stared at the line.
The baby is safe. Be grateful.
"Patricia said something like that to me."
Emily looked at Rachel.
"When?"
"After you left the party."
"What exactly?"
"She said, 'Sophie is safe. We should all be grateful and move on.'"
Rachel underlined something on her legal pad.
Emily's anger sharpened into focus.
"Why did you meet me at the diner?"
Jenna took a long breath.
"Because Patricia told Ryan to blame you."
"You heard her?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"After the police report."
Jenna looked directly at Emily.
"She said if people believed you forgot the brake, the account could survive and Ryan wouldn't get in trouble."
"And you suddenly grew a conscience?"
Jenna accepted the insult.
"Not suddenly."
"Then why wait?"
"Because I was scared too."
Emily almost laughed.
Everyone was scared after using Sophie as a prop.
Nobody had been scared enough beforehand.
Jenna reached into her bag.
Rachel immediately raised a hand.
"Tell me what you're taking out."
"My old phone."
She placed it on the table.
"Patricia forgot I had this one connected to the family account."
Emily stared at it.
"What is on there?"
"Draft messages."
"Between who?"
"Patricia and Ryan."
Jenna unlocked the device.
"And one message that Ryan deleted from his current phone."
She opened a screenshot.
Patricia had written it at 3:47 p.m., one minute after Ryan canceled the stunt.
Don't tell Jenna.
If she starts the roll, you can still make the save.
Ryan's reply came eleven seconds later.
No. Stop everything.
Patricia answered.
Too late.
Diane's confession created another uncomfortable truth.
Even people trying to protect Emily had been making decisions without her.
Diane believed secrecy would preserve evidence.
Mark believed taking the stroller immediately was necessary.
Rachel believed silence online was strategically safer.
Most of those choices were reasonable.
But after days of having other people tell stories about her, Emily needed to reclaim one simple thing.
Her own voice.
She asked everyone to sit at Mark's dining table that night.
"From now on, nobody contacts anyone about this in my name without telling me."
Mark nodded immediately.
Diane looked embarrassed.
"Fair."
"And nobody sends anonymous messages."
Diane gave a weak smile.
"Very fair."
Emily looked at Mark.
"If you find something, tell me before you confront Ryan."
Mark opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
"Also fair."
For the first time since the party, Emily felt less like evidence in somebody else's case and more like Sophie's mother again.
That distinction mattered.
She was not a fragile person at the center of a crisis.
She was the person responsible for making the next safe decision.
May you like
The fear did not disappear.
It simply stopped making every decision for her.
