For the first time in years, he realized I wasn’t alone.

The police arrived within minutes. I handed them the recording. Mrs. Rivera gave her statement. Mr. Collins explained what he had seen. Vanessa tried to claim she had only been outside, but my recording captured her laughing when Adrian grabbed me.

Adrian was arrested that night.

As they placed him in the patrol car, he looked at me with pure hatred.

“You’ll regret this,” he said.

I wiped the blood from my mouth. “No, Adrian. I regret not doing it sooner.”

The next morning, I woke up in my parents’ guest room because I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in theirs. The silence in the house felt heavy. My mother’s coffee cup still sat by the sink. My father’s glasses were still on the table.

For a moment, I cried so hard I couldn’t breathe.

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