I changed my Regular Decision application.

When the acceptance letter arrived, my dad nearly had a heart attack from anger.

“All for a man? Giving up such a good school? Vee, are you out of your mind?”

“Maybe we should just send her abroad,” my mom suggested, despairing.

That day, I made the most significant decision of my life.

I knelt in the living room for four hours.

I knelt until my mom softened, and my dad bitterly shook his head in defeat.

In the end, I went to Everreach University.

My parents were so furious they didn’t see me off, but I was secretly thrilled.

It meant I could sit with Charles on the train to college.

The 17-hour hard seat ride was tough, but Charles said he admired girls who could endure hardships.

What was 17 hours of discomfort compared to that?

Charles sat by the window, and I was in the middle seat.

As the night wore on, his head started to droop lower and lower.

I looked around, then carefully supported his head and rested it on my shoulder.

At that angle, I could see his thick eyelashes, fluttering occasionally in his sleep.

It was heart-meltingly beautiful.

I stayed still, bracing my shoulder all night.

We ended up in the same major, and by coincidence, the same class.

From then on, I officially stood by Charles’s side as his girlfriend.

But college wasn’t much different from high school.

I was still the one looking after him, running errands, and catering to his every need.

Behind my back, classmates called me Charles's Bootlicker, Pure Love Warrior, and Desperate Girl.

One weekend, Charles went to a student council dinner.

He got drunk and called me to pick him up.

He gestured towards a hotel next door. I paid for a room and helped him inside to rest.

That night, I learned just how strong a drunk man could be.

Charles ignored my resistance and forced himself on me.

“You said you loved me, didn’t you? So why won’t you sleep with me?”

“If you want me to believe you, prove it with your body.”

“You agreed to be my girlfriend. That means you do what I say. Now, get down.”

Dizziness clouded my mind after drinking the water he handed me.

My body refused to obey, leaving me at his mercy.

“See? Your body knows the truth. You’re just a slut,” he sneered.

I wanted to scream, to tell him I wasn’t what he said, that I genuinely loved him.

But Charles pinned my wrists with one hand and stuffed my underwear into my mouth with the other.

What followed was a night of pain and humiliation.

The next morning, I woke up aching all over, as if I’d been run over by a truck.

Charles was already gone.

I dragged myself to the bathroom.

In the mirror, I couldn’t bear to look at the girl staring back at me—

her neck marked with red, her body bruised and battered.

Was this love?

Charles said it was, so I believed him.

Three months passed, and Charles didn’t break up with me.

But he forbade me from holding his hand or showing any affection in public.

“You need to know your place,” he said.

“You’re short and ugly. No one else would want you.”

“Honestly, it’s embarrassing to call you my girlfriend.”

“You’re lucky I don’t mind that you’re not a virgin anymore.”

“Oh, and transfer $2,000. I need a new razor. The old one isn’t working well.”

I opened my PayPal account, skillfully transferring the money.