For nine years I had a great deal, and controlled none of it, and mistook the having for security, because everyone around me mistook it too.

The day I saw the lock instead of the comforts was the day I began to file.

Because you cannot escape a prison you have been persuaded is a palace.

The first and hardest step out is simply to see the bars — and once you have truly seen them, no amount of gold leaf will ever hide them from you again.

Chapter 17 — The Ruling

The judge did not give me everything Victoria had asked for in that first motion, and I have come to respect her for it.