OUT OF all the things in the castle, the biggest thing that was destroyed was my hope. It shattered against my ribcage, piercing all my important organs, and rendered me immobile. Upon seeing Rhys’ face all over again, my brain decided to stop working at that moment, knowing that this man was the reason why I was on the run in the first place. The entire time I was standing there, every little memory was playing at the back of my mind.
The buyer. The cage. The sneer. The disgusted look. The nights when he would force me to watch him do it with other women. The torture. The rejection.
And then came the other part. The way he gave up on his own resolution and took me. The nights he forced himself on me, knowing that it would hurt me physically and emotionally. The way he emptied himself on
