Chapter 2

At first, I believed he had my best interests at heart.

But as time went on, his control became more and more excessive.

He threw away all my skirts that were above the knee.

Even in the hottest weather, he insisted that I wear jeans when going out.

Eventually, my most abundant possession became modesty covers, because he even required me to wear them under T-shirts.

"I'm doing this for your sake, trust me, " he would say.

What was even more outrageous was his jealousy over my past relationships, even those before we were together.

Kade would seize my phone to check my chat history when I let my guard down.

"Jenny, who is this guy?" he demanded.

I glanced at the screen, puzzled.

It was a boy who had confessed to me two years ago.

"Oh, he confessed to me, but I didn't accept, " I replied.

"Then why haven't you deleted him?" he shouted.

"Didn't you read the message? He's an old friend from high school. I turned him down and we agreed to just be friends. Besides, we haven't talked about anything in two years."

"Delete him, " he insisted.

I was baffled. "What?"

"You hear me!" he barked angrily.

"This was years ago, and you're jealous about this?"

"Are you going to delete him or not?"

The look in his eyes was terrifying.

I had no choice but to take my phone and delete the contact.

Then he took my phone again and went through all my friends on social media, one by one.

However, he seemed still skeptical. Then he opened the search function to look for terms like "baby, " "love you, " and "honey."

Only after finding nothing did he return the phone to me.

That was the first time I realized he had a controlling nature.

From that moment on, the next three years of my life became increasingly suffocating.

When I arrived at our rented apartment, I ran into my best friend Rylie Quinn

Originally, Rylie and I had planned to attend the music festival together.

But once Kade found out, he insisted on going with me.

Reluctantly, Rylie had to give her ticket to him.

"You finally couldn't take it anymore? As soon as I got your message, I rushed over, afraid he wouldn't let you go, " Rylie said.

I smiled at her. "I met a good officer who came to accompany me."

"See, even a stranger has better judgment than you."

3.

Rylie and I went into the room to pack my belongings.

Officer Danna stayed in the living room, keeping an eye on Kade.

"I'm telling you, Jenny, after we break up, don't regret it!" he shouted, taking a big gulp of water, then he added, "Where else will you find someone who treats you as well as I do?"

Rylie couldn't stand his words.

"Kade, are you serious? You think you're someone special?

Do you even realize what you're like? Making empty promises while offering nothing? Being good to her means constantly putting her down? You're a lost cause, and you want to drag Jenny down with you? No way!"

Hearing this, Kade immediately stood up, ready to confront Rylie.

But Danna firmly pressed him back onto the sofa.

"Why the hell are you sticking your nose in my business? You are just an outsider." Kade snapped.

"Aren't you an outsider too? " Danna replied coldly.

An hour later, I had packed everything.

I turned to Kade and said, "No matter what, I still wish you would find your happiness."

"Save it!" he shouted, looking at me as if he wanted to devour me.

Rylie pulled me away.

In the elevator, Rylie said, "Only now have you seen what kind of person he really is. How stupid of you! "

"It's better than marrying him and being trapped for a lifetime, " Danna added.

I was incredibly grateful to Danna and exchanged contact information with her.

"If you ever need help, just let me know, " she said.

Just as we reached the entrance of the complex, I saw a familiar figure-

Kade's mother, Liz Thomas.

"You are lucky that my son even noticed you, "

she accused, pointing her finger at me.

"Is your son Elon Musk or Tom Cruise?" Rylie retorted.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your son Kade dropped out of high school and has been messing around ever since. He doesn't even have a stable job. What woman would be blind enough to choose him?"

She didn't realize her words were inadvertently insulting me.

"Shameless! After being with my son, who else would want you?"

"Please, it's the 21st century, and you still have the nerve to say such things. I think the most shameless one is you, and your whole family!" I couldn't keep my anger in check any longer.

"When he was pursuing me, he promised me the whole world, talking about starting a business and making money to give it all to me. But what happened? Did he ever hold a job for more than a month?

Yes, over the past two years, most of the money he earned was spent with me, but he doesn't plan to include himself in that, right? So, he didn't eat? And for the past three years, I've been subjected to his oppression and control. His little money isn't even enough for compensation of my mental health!"

With that, the three of us bypassed Liz and left the complex.

Rylie was stunned, looking at me.

"You've been holding this in for three years. Now, you finally show your real self."

I chuckled.

"I guess so. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Remembering those nights when he emotionally abused me, and I cried myself to sleep, it just wasn't worth it."

Back when I was with Kade, any slight misstep on my part would lead to his emotional abuse.

He wouldn't answer calls, reply to messages, or he would delete me or leave me stranded in unfamiliar places.

Then the next day, he'd find me and say he didn't know what to say at the time.

But those nights, I had no idea how I got through them.

I just remember feeling like I was losing my mind.

I bid farewell to Danna

and went to Rylie's place to sleep for the night.

The next morning, my colleague called me several times, waking me up.

"Jenny, get back to office quickly, something's happened!"