Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine

Lauren, are you okay?” Damien asked as he opened the door to the house where he was staying later that night.

Instead of giving him an answer, I pushed myself into his arms and broke down in tears. That might, I cried all the tears that I had refused to cry the whole time. Every emotion that I had refused to let out and express, all of it was on the ground around. And Damien just let me.

“You’re fine, you’re fine,” he told me in sweet whispers as he led me to the bedroom and set me down on the bed. He held me there for as long as he possibly could.

“He was doing that to them for years. Shirley and I were friends—best friends—in high school, and I didn’t even notice. How could I not notice what she was going through at the time?” I asked when I had no more tears left.

“What do you mean? What was she going through?” Damien asked, sounding confused as he stared at me and waited for me to recollect and gather myself.

“Her father was taking advantage of her.”