Chapter 50

• APRIL
• Sitting in a stall in the ladies’ bathroom, the world outside feels distant, like it belongs to someone else. Thoughts keep looping, dragging me around in circles. Am I trapped here with Diablo, or am I free to leave? The question feels heavier than it should.
• At his house, rules were laid down as if I belonged to him, as if my choices were no longer entirely my own. Permission was required for everything, a constant need to check in, to tell him where I was going. His protection felt more like control.