"It Didn't Have to Be This Way"

Marie, the protagonist, finds herself in the aftermath of a brutal act of violence. In a mix of rage and disillusionment, she has murdered her cousin Tasha, a culmination of a long history of feeling disrespected and belittled by her family. The story alternates between vivid flashbacks of a New Year's trip to New York and the present, where Marie is dealing with the horror of her actions.

Throughout the trip, Marie is subjected to constant passive-aggressive remarks and outright insults from her cousin Natalie, which further aggravates the already tense relationship between them. Natalie's relentless jabs and her audacity to steal a New Year's kiss from Marie's husband, Gabe, pushes Marie over the edge. These simmering tensions explode into violence, but rather than killing Natalie, Marie ends up murdering Tasha, who tries to calm her down.

In the present, as Marie scrambles to clean up the evidence, her emotions oscillate between regret and a strange sense of satisfaction. The gruesome details of her cousin's mutilation are juxtaposed with her inner thoughts, revealing a woman who feels alienated, betrayed, and justified in her heinous act. In a daze, she dismembers Tasha's body and disposes of the evidence, but the story hints at her deeper unraveling.

The story is a chilling exploration of Marie's descent into darkness, driven by years of feeling judged, disrespected, and overlooked by her family. The act of murder becomes not just an act of rage, but a symbolic release of all the pent-up resentment she's harbored. In the end, Marie reflects on how she's allowed her anger to destroy her, but by then, it's too late—she is already too far gone. The story sets the stage for the rest of the collection, where Marie's further descent into violence and self-destruction will likely unfold.

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