the gala, Mark

ful, silver and shimmering, and it felt like a costume for a part I

medical clinic he kept on retainer. A doctor, a man

accusations. I can' t have my wife running around making wild claims. It' s bad for my image. So, yo

g the script, painting me as the unstable, untrustworthy one. He was forcing

blood. I gave a urine sample. Every step was a new degradation, a strippi

ctly to my office," he said as

up a framed photo from the mantle. It was from our honeymoon, ten years ago. We

eren't we?" he said, h

a crack in his armor, a glim

the photo agains

choed in the silent room. Shard

a," he said, looking at t

ay, leaving me to stare

side as he accepted an award for his philanthropy. I watched as he pulled C

as deafening.

heavy. I knew what was coming next. He expe

years of quiet suffering, the constant humiliation, the shatte

living room and st

ed taking o

nfused. "What the

hen I unhooked my bra and slid off my underwear. I stood before him, comp

rship of, the body he had forced into

ly calm. "You want to own me? You want to control me?

all, seemed to shake him. He looked not aroused, but unsettled. He h

Then his face hardened, his c

owerful?" he sneered

eyes raking over my

me. Don' t forget who pays your father' s debts.

s gambling, a debt collector who got too rough. Mark paid for the best care, the best facilities. Not out of kindness, but

will be back on the street, and your brother will be in a state-run fac

e was right. I had nowhere to go, no one to turn

The last bit of fight drained out

up the silver dress, holding i

I wh

phant, predatory g

room. "Go to your ro

oom and closed the door. I heard him on the

Why don' t you come up? Ava' s feeli

pressing against my bare back. I wrapp

Chloe' s soft laugh. I heard their footsteps go

t a few feet away from where he had imprisoned me. The sound was a final, b

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