I tried to breathe in and out but the air felt too thin. It wasn’t filling my lungs. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. All I could think about—all I could feel—was the anxiety and the pain.I could not remember a single thing from that night other than the feeling of dread and confusion I had. My body had not been my own and I was left to the mercy of the shadow man. That was what I called him. All I could remember of that night was the shadows, and his cold, calloused hands mixed with the horrid stench of whiskey.It had been storming that night but we were all out having a good time. It was all meant to be a good time but little did I know that my life would be forever altered. The last thing I remembered from that night was me fighting with Dylan and him walking away, angry and upset as he always did. He was meant to be there to protect me. He was meant to keep me safe and maybe that was why my heart held so much bitterness toward him. I felt he had let me down when I needed him t

*Dove* Cold icy hands. Rotting breath fanning across my skin.“Look at this golden pussy. Oh, how I have missed you, Dovie.”A chill ran down my spine. I tried to press my back further into the wall. I needed to get out of here.“Do you miss me, baby?” His hand crept lower and lower toward my core.“Please,” I pleaded. “No, please.”“You’re mine.”“No!” My body lurched forward in the bed, my skin drenched in sweat. The moonlight streamed into the room, illuminating half of the space.I looked around the room and saw that I was in our bedroom. My hand came to rest on my racing heart and I let out a few shaky breaths.You’re okay…you’re okay…I kept chanting that inside of my head over and over again. My body felt like it had run two full marathons. Every muscle was sore. All I could feel was the ache in my muscles and the creaking of my bones as I peeled the sheets off my body.“Ah,” I hissed as I placed my legs on the floor. The cool wood felt nice under my sore soles. “W

I stared down at my phone completely and utterly shocked.I had to blink a few times to make sure that I was seeing exactly what I was seeing.There was no way that this was the man that she was marrying. This had to be some kind of mistake.I clicked on the comment section and read what they all had to say.‘You two are so good together ’‘Oh my Gosh was he not with her sister?’‘You guys are going to have the cutest babies’I read comment after comment and it all just kept getting realer and realer with each passing second. There was no way that this was real right now.She was marrying my ex-boyfriend. The man that I had loved so deeply and who had broken my heart in two.“Dove?” Miles tried to grab my attention. “Dove?”I lifted my head, “yes?”“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”I nodded my head but no words came out. I was still in bitter and utter shock.“Dove?” My husband wheeled himself to my direction and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Are you

*Dylan* I had no idea what I was doing outside with her. I had no business being out here with her when my fiancée was inside, likely watching this exchange. “I don’t want to talk to you, Dylan.” Dove turned away from me and looked out to the road. “Your wife-to-be will not be happy to see you talking to me. And I would hate to put her head in the mud again.”I looked down at her hand and saw that she was bleeding.“You’re bleeding.” I tried to reach for her hand but she moved away from me. “Don’t be childish, let me see and help you.”“Now you want to help?” she snapped. “Where were you when I needed help three years ago?”The venom in her voice was potent and lethal. She was out for blood.“You weren’t at work,” I stated, ignoring her words. This was the only thing that I could think of to break the ice.“I was sick. What are you going to do? Fire me?” There was a challenge in her voice.It was rare for Dove to get fired up. She was often a levelheaded person. She didn’t

*Dove* Monday had come too far quickly. I didn’t want to be around Dylan again after the shit show that had taken place at my dad’s place. Not only that but I had found out that my paralyzed husband was not so paralyzed after all. The man could walk just fine.I knew that Miles had promised me that I would be under his protection but I still felt uneasy. I didn’t know who that guy was from the basement parking and going back to work was bringing up a lot of anxiety.I had been battling with an idea the entire weekend. With Dylan at my workplace and now being my boss and also marrying my half-sister, it was all too much for me.New York was meant to be my fresh start. A chance for me to carve my own path but the ghosts of my past had come back to haunt me.I had yet to tell my friends the full scope of what happened but I had given them the summarized version and by that I mean I told them that I was fine and feeling better. I was a coward, I know, but I had no choice. I was not