Chapter 110

I run about three blocks before I stop and let the heart-wrenching pain overtake me. I cry like I did the night he left me on the yacht, and I think I may die this time. If my lungs don’t self-implode, I think my heart might. The pain is unbearable and raw, and I’ve never willingly exposed myself to enduring it this way, except that night.

I sit on a bench cradling my head between my knees, and I think I may even throw up. This isn’t my life; my life is calm and effortless, and straightforward. My job, apartment, and responsibilities all slot into place and I manage them well. This isn’t happening. I’m in a parallel universe, or I’m dreaming. I’ll wake up any minute, and this will have been one long, bad dream. Except I know that it’s not. Meeting Jake has slowly changed it all; he is too potent to be around, changing me, changing how I think and live until I don’t feel like I am in control anymore.

Is this how we got here?

***

I finally start walking back to