CHAPTER 171

Hi, loves!

I wanted to talk about something for a moment because I’ve seen many different opinions about Viola’s character. 💟

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of you want Viola to fight back immediately, stand up to everyone, or simply leave.

Honestly… I completely understand why you feel that way. We all want to see the heroine win. We all want to see her stand up for herself and finally stop accepting everything that’s happening to her.

But more than anything, I wanted Viola to feel real.

Not everyone who grows up in an abusive environment becomes loud, fearless, or rebellious. Some people do. But some people become exactly like Viola.

I’ve genuinely met people like this in real life.

People who apologize even when they did nothing wrong.

People who get scared when someone raises their voice.

People who automatically think everything is their fault.

People who believe they deserve bad treatment because that’s the only life they’ve ever known.

They’re not just fictional characters. They exist, and their stories deserve to be told too.

Years of emotional and physical abuse change the way a person thinks.

When you’re constantly told you’re worthless, unwanted, stupid, or a burden from childhood, after enough years you slowly begin to believe it yourself. You stop trusting your own voice. You stop believing your feelings matter. You don’t become weak because you were born that way—you become conditioned to survive.

That’s what happened to Viola.

She wasn’t raised with confidence.

She wasn’t raised believing she had choices.

She had no friends, no support system, no financial freedom, and nowhere she could run. Even the people who were supposed to protect her became the ones hurting her. Every time she tried to speak up, things only became worse.

Many people ask, “Why doesn’t she just fight back?”

But real life isn’t always that simple.

Fear can become a habit.

Silence can become a survival instinct.

Sometimes surviving another day feels safer than risking everything in one moment.

Not everyone responds to pain the same way. Some people become loud, rebellious, and ready to fight back. Others become quieter, softer, and afraid of making even the smallest mistake. Neither reaction is unrealistic. They’re simply different ways people cope after years of emotional and physical abuse.

Viola isn’t Vanessa. Vanessa grew up confident, outspoken, and believing she could do whatever she wanted without consequences. She was never taught to question her own worth or stay silent to survive. Viola grew up believing she was a burden, that her voice didn’t matter, and that every mistake deserved punishment. They lived under the same roof, but emotionally, they grew up in two completely different worlds.

Some of the people I’ve met were kind, intelligent, and incredibly capable, but years of abuse convinced them they were none of those things. That’s why I wanted Viola to feel human instead of perfect. She won’t change overnight, because people rarely do. Real healing takes time, and so will hers.

Her kindness isn’t her weakness.

Her trauma is.

And trauma doesn’t disappear overnight.

A person doesn’t wake up one morning after years of abuse and suddenly become fearless. Healing is slow. Confidence is built little by little. Learning to say “no” after a lifetime of saying “yes” is one of the hardest things someone can do.

I don’t want to write a heroine who is magically strong from page one. I want to write someone who slowly finds her voice, learns her worth, and becomes stronger because of everything she survives—not because she was born fearless.

Growth isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s so quiet that no one notices it except the person living through it.

Sometimes the bravest thing a broken person can do is take one small step forward when every part of them wants to hide.

That’s the journey I want to tell.

Thank you for being so invested in Viola. Whether you love her, get frustrated with her, or just want to shake some courage into her, it means you’re emotionally connected to her story. As an author, that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. ❤️

I hope you’ll stay with Viola until the very end of her journey.

I hope that with every chapter, you’ll understand her a little more. ❤️