Lily\u2019s phone buzzed again, rattling against the console like an accusation. She let out a sharp breath, jaw tightening. Of course it was him. He hadn\u2019t stopped since their fight last week\u2014calls, texts, each one sharper than the last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She hadn\u2019t answered any of them, only listened to each voicemail and read each text. But she was done explaining herself. She\u2019d moved out three months ago. She had started her college course, got a job at the local cafe, and was keeping up with her dance classes and rehearsals. She was building a life on her own terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was her life. Not his anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She gripped the wheel tighter, as if holding on could steady the tremor running through her chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t get to control me. Not anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The screen lit up again, the name she knew by heart filling her vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She jabbed the reject button, harder than she meant to, and flung the phone onto the passenger seat. The vibration hummed once before it went silent, leaving her alone with the sound of her breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost home<\/em>. She thought to herself. Just a few more blocks, and she could lock the door behind her. Draw a bath. Let the water drown out the echo of his voice telling her she was ruining her life. She was too young, too foolish, too much like her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dance is a fantasy. You\u2019ll never make any money to support yourself. You\u2019ll come running back.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n His words lived in her bones, each one a splinter she couldn\u2019t dig out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life wasn\u2019t perfect\u2014far from it. She knew that. Juggling college classes, endless dance rehearsals, and late-night caf\u00e9 shifts left her exhausted most days. But it was her life. Her choices. Her bills. Her freedom. For the first time, she was making her own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She turned onto Muskat Street, headlights cutting through the drizzle. The familiar curve signaled she was close\u2014her building just around the bend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her phone lit again. Persistent. Demanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her chest knotted. She reached for it without thinking, fingers brushing the screen. The message preview glowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pick up, Lilith. <\/em> Her throat closed. He always used her full name when he wanted to remind her she was still his child, no matter how old she was. Still under his thumb. Still expected to obey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod, take the hint,\u201d she muttered, voice shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her gaze flicked back up to the road\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n And froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Headlights. Too close. A parked SUV loomed, filling her vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShit\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She wrenched the wheel, slammed her foot on the brake. Tires screamed. The car skidded sideways, fishtailing across wet asphalt, jolting her forward against the seatbelt, the strap biting into her chest. The wheel shuddered violently in her hands as the black SUV filled her vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her mind screamed\u2014no, no, no\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Time stopped for a split second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then\u2014impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sickening crunch of metal folding into metal. Her head snapped back against the headrest, the air torn from her lungs in a brutal rush. The world went white, then black, then hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a moment she couldn\u2019t move. She clutched the wheel, knuckles white, breath ragged. The smell of burnt rubber and hot engine filled her lungs, sharp and metallic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She squeezed her eyes shut. Tried to breathe. Tried to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please. Please let this be fixable. Please don\u2019t let this be bad.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But already, in the back of her mind, she could hear him. Her father\u2019s voice, cold and sharp:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThree months. That\u2019s all you lasted. Come home, Lilith. I told you\u2014you weren\u2019t ready.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The words sliced through her like glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And she knew\u2014this was exactly the kind of mistake he\u2019d use to drag her back. But for the first time, even through the fear and the wreckage, another thought burned hotter: she couldn\u2019t let him win.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lily\u2019s phone buzzed again, rattling against the console like an accusation. She let out a sharp breath, jaw tightening. Of course it was him. He hadn\u2019t stopped since their fight last week\u2014calls, texts, each one sharper than the last. She hadn\u2019t answered any of them, only listened to each voicemail and read each text. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-beast","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":975,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
This discussion isn’t over. <\/em>
You can\u2019t ignore me forever.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n