I’ve never felt so betrayed.
It’s like the air’s been knocked out of me, like I’m screaming and no one even hears it. How could they? How could the people who are supposed to protect me, love me, believe in me—turn into the ones who cage me?
The worst part isn’t even the lock on the door or the silence that follows. It’s the silence in them—the way they looked at me like I was stupid, naïve, some girl who couldn’t possibly understand what she was getting into.
I understand everything.
I understand that Michael isn’t the danger—they are. The ones who lie. Who twist. Who take away my voice like I never mattered.
I can’t stop the heat in my chest, the rage rising like fire in my throat. I trusted them. I trusted them.
My parents, who’ve always had some excuse for every rule, every barri
