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SOPHIE WULTZ

Leewood Folcrum passed two days after the visit of Sophie Wultz and Paige Smith. His personal effects were collected by Wally Nall, except for a package of papers that he left for Sophie Wultz. No funeral was held, and he was cremated and interred in the Lancaster Prison cemetery.

—Alex Boyton, Lancaster Prison warden

My mother once told me that a lie only mattered if the side effects did. She was right about that, as she was about most things. After today, people would say horrible things about my mother, but she was right about most things. Like being famous. I once told her that I wanted to be an influencer, and she told me that it was better to be famous for doing something rather than being someone.

After all this, I’ve become famous. I didn’t realize I was until Mandolin and I stepped out of her father’s car at the mall and two photographers rushed forward to take my photos and scream a bunch of questions at me. I didn’t answer any of them. I looked around for Paige, and she came around the back of the car and screamed at them to get away.

Paige now lives in one of the bedrooms in the Contis’ employee house. It’s at the back of their property and is where Mandolin’s nanny and their housekeeper and chef live. I’m paying for Paige’s costs. Dad transferred a bunch of money into my savings account, and the banker came to the house with a bunch of forms and brought me a debit card and a bunch of checks and told me to just use those for anything I need. Mandolin’s mom—her name is Gia—told me how much to write it for and showed me how to fill it out to Paige.

Anyway, I digress. That’s a new word I learned this week. Gia uses it all the time. Best I can tell, it means that I’ve gotten off topic. The point of this entry is that right now, I’m famous for being the daughter of Perla and Grant Wultz. No one really knows much about the fact that my mom was trying to kill me (or Mand or Bridget), which is why no one cares about taking their pictures.

I’m famous for who I am, not what I’ve done. But that will change in two hours. That’s when I’m going on television. I told them that I’m going to share the truth about my mother.

And I’ll do that. I’ll tell the truth in the way that my mother taught me. A way paved in lies.