She sees Nicole, she sees her, but now really sees her. And she laughs, loud and hard. She laughs at Mick.

“I get it now. You thought this girl was going to replace me? That she would want to live with you? My God, it is beyond pathetic.”

Mick stumbles, drops to his knees. I can’t tell if it’s the poison or his grief. But he lets his head fall into his hands and he begins to weep.

“You didn’t come back this time,” he cries.

Alice tries to pull away. She wants to go to him. She loves him. I can see that now. Even though she helped try to kill him to set me free.

Daisy sighs like she’s annoyed. “I told you if you kept getting into my bed I would leave for good. And that’s what I did.”

“I kept waiting. We kept waiting . . .”

Alice cries. I see that she is confused, and confusion is her worst enemy. Mick told her Daisy died in the woods. Now she knows that Daisy is alive, that she left on her own, and that Mick knew the whole time.

I think about what Alice told me—how the beginning of the end was when Mick got into bed with them. Now I understand. Daisy had simply had enough.

She continues her rant as though she and Mick are the only ones in these woods. “But then you gave up, didn’t you? You found that old woman, and then her daughter. Why didn’t you just go fuck a waitress at the diner? Why did it have to be like this?”

Mick has a second wind, rises to his feet. “You know why—because of her!” He points to Alice. “How was I going to explain that? I had no way out. You left me with no choice.”

Daisy takes a step closer. “Did you even consider moving away? Making up a story about the girl? You could have gone anywhere. Started over. It just pisses me off! I used to think you were so smart. That we were going to build a little fortune and get the hell out of here together. But you had no imagination. Just your little cons and scams. I told you I wanted more. You promised to give it to me if I stayed with you and had the kid. But no—that was all just a con you pulled on me, making me need you. Making me have to stay!”

She pauses, looks to the sky, and back at Mick. She is cold with rage. I think about the photo in that book, and the way Alice loves her. She wanted something that Mick had promised her—something she believed in once. Something that made her stay and give things to this little girl.