Chapter 253 Enduring Alone

Elise felt torn—torn between the urge to confide in her best friend and the crushing weight of the truth she carried. How could she admit that being intimate with a man she didn’t love—hell, a man she hated—was tormenting her soul? She was living a nightmare, trapped in a marriage that felt more like a sentence than a union. And yet, she kept it all hidden.
She didn’t want her parents or friends to lose sleep over her. What could they even do? No one could stand against the rich monster that was Henry Sinclair. If they knew what he was doing to her—how he humiliated her, controlled her, broke her—they would only feel helpless and powerless. And Elise couldn’t bear to see her parents or friends miserable like that, unable to protect her. It was easier to endure it alone than to let them suffer with her. That was why she had never told them about the abuse. Every time they called to check on her, to ask how she was doing, she lied.
She smiled through the pain, whispered that everything was fine, and endured it all in silence.