Now, whenever a stranger at a gala or a new client tentatively asks about the burns that mark my skin, I don’t hide them.

I trace them with pride.

“These?” I say, holding my head high. “These are simply the battlegrounds where their power over me permanently ended.”

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is entirely coincidental.