As she left, silence filled the room again. I closed my eyes, knowing I wouldn’t sleep with him there, his presence both unsettling and oddly protective.

I must’ve seemed crazy, forced to stay with a man using me for revenge against my father while I tried to find something good in him, despite everything working against it.

There were so many bad, unscrupulous people in the world—far more than good ones, in my opinion.

I swore I wouldn’t spread hate, even though I was born of ...