Chapter 23: Go Home, Dolores

I gave my sister the microphone.

I had no idea what she would do with it, and I gave it anyway.

Shelby stepped up beside the stage, her hand pressed to her stomach, and looked out at the gold chairs.

Her voice shook, but it carried.

"My name is Shelby Marr," she said. "I'm the other woman."

Nobody moved.

"I told a whole arena last week that I was scared. That was true. I'm going to tell you something else that's true."

She swallowed.

"I knew about the dress. I picked it with Travis."

She didn't look at him.

"When he said it was cruel, I told him to send it anyway. I wanted my sister gone."

Her chin lifted.

"I wanted her to leave in silence, so nobody would ever ask me what I'd done."

Travis said, "Shell."

"I'm not finished."

It was the first time I had heard her speak to him without asking permission.

"My mother raised me for this. I knew it, and I did it anyway, because I wanted what she said was mine."

She drew a shaky breath.

"I'm not saying that to be forgiven. She's going to say something different in a minute, and I want you to hear the real thing first."

Behind her, Dolores had gone rigid in her green gown.

"This baby is mine," Shelby said. "I'm not Travis's wife, and I'm not my mother's weapon."

She put her hand on her stomach.

"I'm going to raise this child without either of them deciding who she is."