Chapter 13 - The Broken InstrumentThe visitation room smelled of industrial floor cleaner and stale sweat.
Evelyn sat on one side of the reinforced glass, her expression sour as Mark was led into the booth by two guards. He looked smaller, his posture slouched, his hair messy.
"Why haven't you answered my calls?" Mark demanded through the handset, his voice cracking with emotion. "I'm facing felony domestic assault, kidnapping, and witness tampering, Mom! The public defender says I'm looking at twelve years minimum!"
"Keep your voice down," Evelyn commanded sharply, looking around the visitation room. "I am handling things on the outside. My lawyers are preparing an appeal on the custody ruling. You need to remain silent and stick to the narrative that Clara attacked you."
Mark stared at his mother through the glass as if seeing her clearly for the first time in his life. "The narrative? She didn't attack me, Mom! I dragged her across the bathroom floor! You handed me the screwdriver!"
"She forced our hand!" Evelyn hissed, her face pressing close to the glass, her sweet motherly persona completely vanishing. "She was breaking up this family! I built your life, Mark! I gave you that house, I gave you that career, and I am not going to let a weak, pathetic girl ruin twenty years of my work!"
Mark pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at his mother in absolute horror.
"Detective Vance was right," Mark whispered into the receiver, tears streaming down his hollow cheeks. "You don't care about me. You never did. You just wanted control."
"Mark, don't you dare—"
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"I signed the state's witness proffer this morning," Mark said, his voice dropping into a flat, dead tone. "I told the prosecutor about the SIM card. I told them you brought the screwdriver from the garage. I told them everything."
Evelyn froze. The color drained from her face, leaving her skin looking like parchment. She slammed her hand against the glass, but Mark set the receiver back on its cradle, turned his back on her, and walked slowly back toward his cell block.
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