He was a breath of fresh air.
Until he wasn’t.
The connection was instant.
I told myself I had been through a lot.
I deserved to give this a chance.
He said he could see us lasting.
That this was something special.
I was hesitant.
I wanted to believe.
He was attentive. Consistent.
Yes, I thought. That’s what I need.
He mowed my lawn.
Wow. No one had thought to do that for me before.
He planned our holiday.
Exciting.
He planned the day we would get married.
Two years from now.
I felt safe.
He bought me a new car.
Sold my old one.
Kept the money.
That seemed fair.
Then he told me the new car was his.
Oh.
He insisted I change all my utilities to companies he chose.
Oh.
No.
He fixed my laptop.
Installed an app so he could access it remotely.
Oh.
No.
He pushed and pushed for control.
No.
No.
No.
He pushed for me to move into his house.
From the first panicked no in my head,
I knew.
I had to escape.
I had to plan.
The final moment came when he shoved my glasses into my face,
hard enough to bruise my eyes,
because he wasn’t getting the control he wanted.
The next morning, I showed him the bruises.
There was no apology.
He pretended to punch me.
A joke.
I knew then.
When he went away,
I returned the car with all his belongings inside.
No ghosts left behind.
I moved.
I blocked him.
And blocked again
when other accounts were used to reach me.
A lucky escape.
The Next Chapter Room 
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