39

ASHLEY

Empty.

Yeah, that was the word. The gaping hole that had taken residence in my mind, a hole which I knew that no matter what I tried to dabble in, it wasn't leaving any moment now. I felt hollow, dead inside and it was as though I was fading into nothingness because if anyone had told me months ago, that my life was going to take a drastic turn, I would look the mother-fucker in the eye and spit in their face, telling him or her to go rot in hell.

I had my life all planned out. I met a guy I loved. A guy who manipulated me and messed with my mind into thinking what he wanted me to think. Heck, he was so toxic and I couldn't even bring myself to see it. They tried to warn me about him but I was too blinded by what I felt for him, so I allowed him to break me. I was even delusional enough to think that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

And then that one night, he came into the picture, shattering my resolve and turning my life into a more complicated mess at the sna