gust

tin and given him a chance, and the young man on his part proved his worth to her. He showed her love and treated

were celebrating Easter together, the next minute he was coughing and he dropped to the ground. He wa

r father was more healthy than a nineteen-year-o

om who was having a hard time coping with th

h the pain more than she needed Austin, but he

nnah to manage. Someone, this loss of wealth was more heartbreaking to Hannah's mom than the loss of her husband. So, whe

nnah was dealing with her father's business,

best to clear their names after rumours of their embezzlement spread throughout the town. Aust

ted became the laughingstock of th

shit he could lay his hands on. The fact that he was now d

t didn't. Hannah became immune to his words. So he switched to psychical abuse. A slap at first, then she became his punching bag. At some point, beating her became s

just when she thought things couldn't get worse, her mom proved her wrong. She played on her emotions, manipulating her into staying with him.

she end up here? How did something that started beautifull

tin staggered into the room, hitting

w

ut

would take the brunt of her wrath. The only good thing was there were times he was too wasted to

ike me to ru

e bed, hitting Hannah’s chin. “I want you naked.” He unzippered the

. Hannah remained silent as she watched him fill the syringe with a precise dose. With the state Austin was in alrea

eat care, Austin stuck the needle i

relax tonight. It sounds l

at I saw when I say" he yelled and stumbled

be naked whe

before. If only she could find it within herself and

nna

braced herself. She had no idea what had happened today

she could fix anything. Her

timidly on th

? Are y

n violently. “What

at Hammah’s face, na

sh.” She did all she could to stay calm as she

trying to remember if she had left the toothbrush o

h is not this colour. Who

swear. I bought new brushes for

and caught Ha

me! Where is the basta

act with Hannah’s jaw, causing the youn

ch, was like being branded with a hot iron. She wanted to argue, wanted to beg Austi

is attention to destroying the room looking for

termine what was hurting worse. Her ribs ached so much she could barely breathe. There was a pain in her stomach that made her wonder if Aus

lly going to kill me' H

One of the vendors? Maybe an investor? Is that how you get things done? By s

myself be with you is that I wanted to punish you for thinking you're better than me” Au

athetic as you? Fuck no. I wanted all the wealth and popularity th

was spitting out at her. No, what was causing the tears was the inability to bre

onto Austin’s wrist but didn’t have th

ised to strike again. “That’s r

clutched at his chest. The exertion he had displayed by trashing the place already had her breathi

s happening, Austin began retching. It seemed as endless as the beating did. When he

ed herself up off the floor, and with her finger

der man wheezed i

to Hannah came back with a vengeance. It was like reliving it all over again. Not to menti

hould

nna

ustin’s mouth didn’t sound like a demand, but a plea. Hann

led over, his hand beating w

d that she wanted to say to Austin. How saying please never helped her. How he deserved what he was going

he simply sat there and watched as Au

y as Austin’s last b

--