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I thought that telling the police would help me. So I poured my heart out to them, letting them know of every miniscule detail, not wanting to be Agron’s puppet anymore, not wanting to be his toy anymore. Despite how much he’d threatened me – despite how much he told me he would kill me if I tried to run away, and cause trouble for him.

Two and a half years later, the investigation was still ongoing. That was the thing with rape investigations. They were always so lengthy, and took so much time to process.

But so far, it meant that it had kept me safe. Because all of this time that I’d been living in Leeds, I hadn’t heard a thing from Agron. Hadn’t seen him once. He was out of my way now, and I could finally live my life without fearing that he would hurt me…

Because if he did, the police would deal with him accordingly.

Agron was the biggest mistake I made in my life. I met him when I was on holiday in Albania, clubbing. He was sweet, charming and charismatic. Not to mention handsome. He was tall, muscular, with a well-built frame. Pale skin, dark brown hair, a scruffy, rugged beard, pale green eyes.

From the day I laid eyes on him, he turned my world upside down. He would call me beautiful, take me on dates, spoil me. He was a very wealthy man, and he showed me the finer things in life.

I was twenty-five years old when I met him, and I didn’t have a job. I’d just graduated from university, and had been looking for a job for some time, but hadn’t been able to find one, because of the creative industry being over-saturated. It was stressing me out, which was why I went to Albania for a holiday, needing to get my head straight. Not knowing that I was going to meet the man who changed my life, and outlook on life, forever.

I stayed in Albania for a long time with Agron, and when I decided to fly back to England, he flew back with me. Telling me he had business deals in England too, so it would be no problem. Having to find a job was no problem for me anymore, because Agron would never let me work for a day in my life. He allowed me to live with his money, in Essex, with him, and with time, we both fell helplessly in love with each other.

But a year into the relationship, he became more and more possessive and controlling. Every little thing I did would anger him, infuriate him. And I experienced a side to him that I’d never seen before. Had never expected from him.

He started hitting me, always said that I was eternally in his debt because he’d saved me from unemployment, saved me from being a bum. Lived off of his money when I had none of my own. For a long time, I put up with his abuse, thinking that I deserved it, believing that I was nothing without him, thinking that he was going through a phase, and all of the arguing and bickering would blow over.

But it never did.

With each passing day, it got worse and worse, and I could feel myself falling out of love with the man I once loved so dearly. I tried to leave him, many, many times…

But he would never let me.

He would forcefully have sex with me, rape me, have his way with me. The touch I once got lost in, was captivated by, was now revolting to me. I tried so hard to fight it, to stop him, but it was no use.

He never listened.

But one week, he went away for business, leaving me in his home, with just his bodyguards there to keep watch. After a few days of learning the way that they operated, and the way they moved and walked around the house, I plotted my escape. 

And then I ran for my life, never looking back.

Needing to get as far away from Essex as possible…

Knowing that Agron was abroad, so he wouldn’t be able to catch up with me so easily.

And now, here I was.

In Leeds…

With a new life.