Chapter 6 (Anabelle's POV)What is wrong with me? If I continue to act like this someone will eventually find out my secret and how am I supposed to explain everything to Valentina then? There is no way she would forgive me for lying to her for so long and in the end not even telling her myself.Somehow this whole living with Sean thing was getting out of hand on our first day.And it was time for me to get ready so I did not even have time to find a believable excuse for my reactions.Even though the reaction from when he yelled at me would be easier to explain than all the reactions before. After all, he knew what my childhood looked like and I guess any sane person would understand why I reacted the way I did to yelling. Unfortunately yelling at me still meant someone was about to hit me because that is what life taught me to expect in foster care.If someone yelled at you, it meant you did something wrong and you did not get a chance to defend yourself before a slap or punch lande

Chapter 8 (Anabelle's POV)Tonight was pretty much the same as every other night. But surprisingly I received an anonymous tip worth two thousand funds. That never happened before. Tonight they also went overboard on the theme of my name. Yes, my stage name was Belle but that did not mean I should look like the woman from Beauty and the beast. But that is exactly what happened. Now that I think about it I must say the night was different from previous nights on so many levels. But at least it was over. For tonight. So I just had to get home now, take a nice hot shower to wash away the stench of cigarettes and alcohol then crash for tonight. And tomorrow I can do it all over again. My life is turning into a boring routine and I did not like it one bit. Especially the hidden night part of my life. As much as I wanted to quit my current job I could not. Bills were about to arrive any day now and sadly I was not even sure if Devin was completely out of the picture. Each time I tried to as

Chapter 10 (Anabelle's POV)The road to forgiveness was long in my book and it would be the same for Seth. Sure he was on the right path. But we will see after I finish working in a few minutes if he is truly waiting for me and ready to talk.If he had in mind to only judge me again he can forget any kind of conversation.I would rather not speak to him in that case. Being kind and forgiving did not mean I was stupid and naive. I learned my lesson young and ever since then I made sure to not be naive and believe people blindly.But I understood where he was coming from as well. After all, when he first arrived I did not see him which meant after he saw me on the stage he did not stay long enough to see the whole picture. And then as he was sitting at home things were just brewing inside him until it all grew into unrecognizable proportions and once I arrived home he exploded. At least that is what I think happened.As the clock finally showed three am I packed my stuff and excited our

Chapter 12 (Anabelle's POV)Two weeks have passed since our deep talk with Seth. I know what you must be thinking, why did I not tell him the whole truth, everything, including the fact that Devin did far worse things than just threaten me?But I just could not bring myself to tell him. He was not looking at me with judgment anymore and I wanted to keep things this way. Again, why? Because either he was off limits or not, I liked him. And not just as a friend. It was this way before he moved in with me, but now that we are living together it is all getting even harder.Let me tell you just one situation I found myself in this week ok? You can fill in the blanks after that.So it was a normal Wednesday by any means, for me that meant grocery shopping. Seth wanted to come with me but I told him to stay home and watch television. Ever since I told him parts of my story he became overprotective and wanted to follow me everywhere and I just needed some time for myself. Reluctantly he agree

Chapter 14 (Anabelle's POV)You know that feeling when something tells you it's not what it seems but you just do not believe that part of yourself? Well, that is exactly what happened tonight.We were watching a movie and like almost every night, I fell asleep. Each night after our movie night I found myself in my room safely tucked in in the morning. But I was always alone and in a way, I was glad for that because Seth did not get a front row to see my nightmares but on the other side, I was disappointed because he was not sleeping next to me. I am a weirdo I know but I can not help it. Looks like my brain just works on a weird frequency.Now the other thing. Do you know when you are in that state between dreams and reality? You are not awake but neither are you sleeping. Yeah. That happened. Suddenly I felt arms wrapped around me and one part of me was screaming to be the person from behind me as far away as possible while the other was telling me everything was alright and there w