Page 52 of The Vow Thief

“Is that even still there?” she asked.

“It is,” I said.“You’re sitting in front of me, asking the question. That’s what’s left.”

Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t cry. She pressed her palms flat against her knees, grounding herself.

I closed the file.“Tell me one thing you still want.”

She thought about it.“To stop feeling like a ghost in my own life.”

“Then we’ll work on that,” I said.“Session by session.”

After Lily left, I wrote my session notes:

Progress Note — Dr. Colleen: Patient Lily Thompson

Date: Tuesday, 9:00 AM

Session 1

Lily Thompson presented on time. Her demeanor was defensive, theatrical, and controlled. Affect: variable; oscillates between performative confidence and genuine fatigue. Initial resistance to treatment softened once she was allowed to narrate on her own terms.

Primary presenting theme: control through destruction.

She identifies as“a vow thief,” linking this self-concept to her father’s repeated infidelities. There is an emergent pattern of repetition rather than rebellion: she imitates betrayal in an effort to master it. The behavior is compulsive, not impulsive.

When guided to reverse her own statement (“I can’t stop”), she articulated the underlying motive clearly: she breaks others’vows to test whether any promise can survive her proximity. This is not cruelty, but confirmation bias born of early exposure to relational collapse.

Emotional insight surfaced near the end of the session. She verbalized a wish“to stop feeling like a ghost in my own life.”

Noted capacity for self-reflection when language is slowed and stripped of judgment.

Counter-transference:brief moments of empathy followed by irritation, a sign of the patient’s ability to project and control emotional atmosphere. Recommend conscious neutrality during future sessions.

Plan:

Continue three sessions weekly for two weeks.

Introduce cognitive reframing around inherited betrayal patterns.

Assign journaling task:“Write one vow you would keep for yourself.”

Monitor for alcohol use and avoidance behaviors following emotional exposure.

Prognosis— guarded, but promising.

Lily Thompson shows capacity for insight and a nascent curiosity about change. She responds not to sympathy but to precision. Beneath the performance, there is pain that wants to be witnessed rather than managed.

End of Session 1.

Chapter 24 - The Car Ride

Sean's POV

She came out of Dr. Colleen’s office with her sunglasses back on and her mouth set like a closed fist. I opened the passenger door. She slid in, crossed her legs, and stared out the window as if the parking lot had wronged her personally.

We pulled out of the parking lot. The city looked clean at ten in the morning. It always lies best in daylight.

“Do you want to talk about the session?” I asked.