"Otherwise, I have plenty of ways to teach you what happens when you disobey."
The door slammed behind him.
In the middle of the night, my phone buzzed.
A photo from Alex.
Clothes scattered across the floor. Two bodies tangled on a bed.
"You should learn from Mia how to keep a man. Stop being so ungrateful. Remember your place and stay where you belong."
I thought I'd gone numb. That he'd ground me down until nothing was left.
But my heart still ached in waves.
We'd met while I was studying abroad in Eldoria.
Dead of winter. He'd been scammed out of everything—no money, nowhere to go. I found him on the street in a thin coat, shaking from the cold.
I felt sorry for him. In a moment of weakness, I brought him back to my tiny rental.
He didn't remember anything then. Not his name. Not how to reach his family.
Besides supporting myself, I had to support him too.
My already tight finances stretched even thinner.
I thought about throwing him out more than once.
But every time I looked at those hollow eyes, that dazed, lost expression—my resolve crumbled.
During that time, I worked nonstop. Classes in the morning, three jobs at night.
My phone rang in the middle of the night.