Before I could react, she lunged at me and wrapped her hands around my throat. I struggled desperately, but my burned, weakened body was no match for her trained strength.
The air in my lungs thinned rapidly, my vision darkening. Just as my consciousness began to fade, the door burst open.
A doctor doing his rounds screamed, "What are you doing?! Stop right now!"
In the chaos, I gripped his sleeve with the last of my strength.
"C–call... the police…"
Then everything went black.
When I woke up again, the first thing I saw was Renald's dark, stormy face.
His voice trembled with suppressed anger.
"Danica, why did you call the police? Lorraine has already been taken away by them!"
My heart clenched, as if a knife had been driven straight through it.
"She tried to strangle me to death!" I gasped.
Renald frowned deeply. "I've told you before—Lorraine's parents died saving my mother. She's emotionally scarred, but she's not a bad person. She didn't really mean to hurt you—"
"Didn't mean to kill me?!" I cut him off, my voice cracking as three years' worth of fear, humiliation, and fury finally burst free.