Talking with Jess has always helped bring me clarity. She has a way of putting me at ease while dishing out the cold, hard truth. Our friendship has always been this way. It is as if we are sisters who were separated at birth.
"He said Chad's control was insidious. That was explicit. He said Chad broke me down, but he wants to help me rebuild. He used the word 'empowerment' through submission." I massaged my temples. "It sounds completely insane, doesn't it?"
"It sounds… like a lot." Jess was processing, I knew. Her mind was a steel trap when it came to analyzing problematic men. "So, he thinks you have a 'secret desire' for control to be taken from you, because you're efficient and defy superficial rules?"
"Exactly! How did he even know all that? He was like a mind-reader. He saw past
