#Chapter 265: The Ceremony

Agnes After Lena left us, Thea and I returned to our cell to wait. The minutes crawled by like hours as I paced the small room. Every once in a while, I glanced up at the security camera in the corner, wondering if someone was watching us. If my stepmother was watching us. The thought made my skin crawl. “Mommy?” Thea’s small voice broke through my spiraling thoughts. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, wringing her hands/ “Are you scared?” I paused my pacing and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Yes,” I admitted. There was no point in lying to her. She was too perceptive for that, and after everything she’d been through, she deserved honesty. “I am scared.” “Me too,” she whispered, leaning against me. “But it’s okay to be scared, right? That’s what you always tell me.” A lump formed in my throat. “That’s right. It’s okay to be scared. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. It means you do what needs to be done even