My mother always told me that throughout her pregnancy with me, she had been plagued with nightmares and visions, which was never normal for her. She believed that it was a constant reminder from the goddess that I shouldn't have been born, and that I should count myself lucky to even breathe…and so, anything that happened could be ignored. Because I didn't deserve love, nor warmth, nor anything else that came with being a person. After all, it was a privilege for me to be alive despite being such a burden. I wasn't sure why at that particular moment, those words echoed in my mind, repeating over and over again like a broken record. Golden eyes held mine in a silent challenge, as if he was waiting for me to respond. Did he want to break me? Why was everyone in my life so obsessed with

