ce

wn voice bounced off the bathroom

ink and shoved the handle up, turn

washing away the blood. The sharp, biting physical pain was exactly what I needed. It shocked my

. I scrubbed away the tear tracks. I washed away the weakness, the

cealer. With practiced, mechanical precision, I da

ed the art of hiding my pain so Josiah would never find me "trouble

or. I forced the corners of my mouth to curl upward. I adjusted the mu

lowered in my usual submissive posture, I walked

ad his phone pressed to his ear, his posture straight and

e hand that, just minutes ago, had been w

ausea hit the back of my thro

deliberately scuffed the sole of my sneaker agai

ed the screen to hang up, and spun around. In a fraction of a second, the bored

ed out his hand, moving to affectionately ruffle the top of my hai

The sheer physical repulsion was too strong.

oze, his fingers hovering awkwardly between

e realized I knew, my entire e

rantic, apologetic speed: *I just washed my hai

. It perfectly covere

n vanished from his eyes, replaced by a patronizing smil

y?" he asked, his voice d

tire world. Now, looking at them was like sta

as I typed out the lie and turned the screen toward him:

almost imperceptible relaxation of his jaw. He

okay, Gracie. We have all the time in the world. Ev

to tears of gratitude. Now, I just sneered interna

from the street outside. I recognized the sound immediately. I

maybe just inconvenience, crossed his face. He cleared

neck. "An emergency board meeting just got sch

ving. But I kept my face blank. I nodded, putti

pulled out a sleek, heavy black titanium credit card. He held it out to m

lack card. I didn

It was exactly how my mother's wealthy boyfriend used to pay her off before h

irmly: *I have money from my p

vanished, replaced by the dictatorial heir. He grabbed the lapel of

difficult," he ordered, his ton

ed on his heel and walked briskly out t

playing