Emma was thirty years old when she realized she'd spent the last decade running from something.
Not from Damien. Not from her responsibilities. But from herself.
She was in her studio painting when the thought hit her. She set down her brush and just sat there, understanding finally that all the work she'd done—the foundation, the paintings, the healing—had been a way to avoid looking at certain truths about herself.
She'd hurt people too. Not physically. But emotionally. She'd made choices that affected others.
She called her therapist and scheduled an emergency session.
"I think I've been avoiding something," Emma told Dr. Martinez.
"What?" the therapist asked.
"My complicity," Emma said. "In my own harm. In others' harm. I've positioned myself as a victim and a rescuer. But I've
