VICTORIA POV
MEMORY -
I'd learned to leave my body during the worst moments.
To go somewhere else in my mind. Somewhere safe. Somewhere Brighton couldn't reach.
At first, I'd fought it. Stayed present. Endured every moment fully.
But that broke something. Damaged something I couldn't afford to lose.
So I learned to float away. To watch from a distance. To let Elena exist somewhere else while the body stayed behind.
"You're getting quiet," Brighton had noticed. "Compliant."
"You're breaking me."
"No. You're learning. There's a difference."
He thought my dissociation was surrender. Thought he was winning.
He didn't understand he was teaching me the exact skill I'd need to destroy him later.
The ability to be present while being absent.
To perform while feeling nothing.
To survive while planning his death.
I used that skill now. Every day. Every night. Every intimate moment with Brighton.
I performed perfectly while feeling nothing.
