be selfish to add more stress to my life. Then she warned Emma that if Maria kept interfering, Maria could lose her job. That was how Claire had taught a nine-year-old child to stay silent.
The more we watched, the clearer the pattern became. Claire did not need to hit my daughters every day because fear was already doing the work for her. She took away Lily’s rabbit, insulted their clothes, threw out drawings, and forced Emma to redo homework until she cried. In another recording, Lily was holding a
