As soon as I woke, shock and disbelief flooded me. My chest tightened with panic. The night before I had cried myself to sleep. That was evident by how much my eyes stung. They were swollen and rubbed raw from me wiping them so much.

Arthur's words played over and over in my mind. How could that be what he said? No! There must be some kind of misunderstanding.

There was no way he was going to kill me, right?

Reluctantly, I slid out of bed. Was there a point to ...