“He Wanted It Himself”

The moment Jacob learns about Simon’s feelings, he instantly rewrites the whole story: “he wanted it himself — so I am not guilty”. This is rationalization: the psyche picks the convenient explanation that removes guilt and spares him from looking at himself. A lie one badly wants to believe is absorbed faster than any truth.

It is the classic logic of an abuser: the victim’s feelings are declared consent, and consent — retroactively — becomes a license for everything done before and everything planned next. Someone’s feelings for you grant you no rights over them. But Jacob needs this formula not for a court — for his own mirror.