~ Unrecognized ~ I collapsed into my office chair. The room felt suffocating, filled with the echoes of Thorn's painful kiss. Tears blurred my vision as I struggled to make sense of the tumultuous emotions raging within me. The soft glow of the desk lamp cast eerie shadows on the walls, adding to the sense of despair that engulfed me. I buried my face in my hands, the weight of the painful kiss pressing down on me like a leaden blanket. “Why does it hurt so much!” I choked out, my voice barely audible in the silence of the room. Why does he have this power over me? The unanswered questions hung in the air, mingling with the faint scent of his cologne that seemed to linger. Each tear that fell felt like a tiny dagger, piercing my heart with pain. I wanted to scream, to lash out at the

