When Love Turns to Vicious Control

sneer from my ex-fiancé, Kirk Knapp, who then dropped a thick file on the ta

lace nightgown from Victoria's Secret... $78." He announced I owed him $200,000, whic

rk it off on my back." Kirk, enjoying my torment, offered an alternative: drink

ur ago, we received a call from Mr. Knapp. He instructed us to halt all life-

do that?" His cruel laugh echoed, "Because you dared to bother Jaida.

g so monstrous. Why would he take away my la

r to join a national research project, determ

pte

, Jaida. My mom's

her uncle, Kirk Knapp. "Holly, I

arm around his niece. His cold eyes

my hands clenched. "She owes me fif

polished table of the private club. The sound echoed

d pages of printed documents, a detailed f

everyone in the room to hear. "Two years, six m

shared to the movie tickets he bought on our first date. Every meal, every gift,

9. One pack of birth control pills, $50. A l

of Kirk's wealthy friends, all of them staring, so

irk announced, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "But since

s lips, his eyes cold and distant. "H

ng in the air,

his voice sharp. "How does it feel? Coming

d strike, painting me as a

. Every eye was on me, judging, dis

ly growing into a roar of mockery. The so

e'll have to sell a kidney for th

oving over my body. "She could work it off on her bac

got cruder, the

rent expression on his face. He di

er, "we can settle this in cour

his wasn't the first time he'd done something like this

on broken glass for hours. I remembered when she lost a busine

oney I desperately needed for my mother's surgery. I

r my next move, hungry

my mind. Her life depended on this.

made the lewd suggesti

ith a sick excitement. He glanced at Kirk,

his face. "See those ten bottles of whiskey on the bar? F

quor. It was a challen

sitation, I walked to

naled his approval. Ten shot glasses

or burned a path down my throat, a fire in my stomach

n, the only sound my own choked breaths. The alcohol

. Kirk's stare was the worst, cold and piercing, as if h

gnity when my mother is dying?

the bar. The room swam before my eyes, my vision blurred.

k towards Kirk

e looked at the man who

d with a laugh. "Ch

hrew it on the floor at my feet. The bi

y. Each bill felt like a brand on my skin. Without another word,

cash. "Doctor! I have the money for

with pity. "I'm sorry, M

at do you mean? What a

, his voice gentle. "He instructed us to halt all life-sustaining

felt worthless, a cruel joke. I fumbled for my phon

up on the

one, tears streaming down my

d. "Why? Because you dared to bother Jaida. This

hun

cut through my haze of shock and grief. The flat

om my grasp and cla

ol, burned with a new, terrible fir

ready cold. The

my voice breaking. "

Only the deafening so

, an animal cry tearing

urses came and went, their faces a blur of symp

eath settled in slow

or handed me a letter.

he words short. I read it t

ld me not to be tied down by her a

here was nothing left for me here. No love, no

my phone and

the first time in days. "I'd like to accept t