Scars of a Tender Betrayal

Previously

…“He didn’t mean it,” I whispered to the stranger in the mirror, the words tasting like ash. “He was just… stressed. We’ll talk. We’ll fix this.” But even as I spoke, a chilling certainty began to take root. The man who had promised me forever was slowly, inexorably, becoming someone else entirely. And the home we were building, the sanctuary I believed in, was starting to feel like a trap. The first blow had landed, and the landscape of my life had irrevocably changed. The question wasn't if it would happen again, but when. And that knowledge was a far heavier burden than any bruise.