Jennifer returned a week later with the formal charges, spreading the documents across the library table like a winning hand of cards. Emma read through them slowly, each word sinking into her consciousness with the weight of years of suffering finally being acknowledged.

Unlawful imprisonment. The locked rooms, the barred windows, the guards who had prevented her from leaving.

Domestic abuse. The hits, the grabs, the threats, the years of escalating violence.

Coercion. The ...