There was no crueler sentence in the whole world.
I thrashed as hard as I could, but the belt cracked against my skin, every blow landing full force.
White-hot pain seared through every inch of my body, and that was when it hit me: I could never change his mind.
All I could do was press my lips so tight they hurt, protesting in silence.
Elio was just as frustrated with my defiant attitude.
He hurled me onto the couch, then clamped his fingers hard around my jaw, forcing me to look right at him.
"I've given you everything every other woman would kill for. What the hell do you have to be unhappy about?"
I wanted to call him the cold-blooded monster. I wanted to yell that he had no clue how much more valuable freedom and dignity were than living a gilded life where I had to look over y
