“You don’t get to talk back to me,” he snarled.

“Do you understand?”

I could barely draw a breath, but I understood more clearly than I had in years.

Chapter 9 — What It Was Really About

This had never been an argument about hospital bills. It wasn’t stress from the accident, or a tired husband losing control after a hard week.

Vincent believed my body, my choices, even my pain belonged to him. As long as I stayed useful and obedient, he could call that arrangement a marriage.

The instant I said no, he decided I deserved to be punished for it.