Chapter 2: Three Years of Silence
I met Jackson Voss when I was twenty-six.
He was charming, successful, and came from a well-known family. He pursued me relentlessly. Flowers. Expensive dinners. Promises about the future we would build together.
I fell for it.
We got married after a year. I moved into his family’s world and slowly started disappearing.
The first time he raised his voice at me was on our honeymoon. I had disagreed with him about something small. He grabbed my wrist hard enough to leave bruises and told me never to contradict him in public again.
I told myself it was a one-time thing.
It wasn’t.
Over the next three years, the abuse became normal. Verbal at first. Then physical. A shove here. A slap there. Always followed by apologies and gifts. Always followed by his family telling me I was too sensitive.
I stayed because I was ashamed. Because I thought if I tried harder, he would go back to the man I married. Because I had nowhere else to go.
Until that night at dinner.
May you like
Until the plate hit my head in front of twenty witnesses.
Something inside me finally snapped.
