Chapter 8 - My Marriage Had Its Own Problem With Power
Dominic became unbearable after the assault.
Not cruel.
Protective.
Which can become its own form of control if nobody watches it.
My driver moved from three blocks away to directly outside every building.
Two additional security contractors appeared at our condo.
Dominic wanted my phone location always shared.
He asked for my schedule every morning.
The first week, I accepted it.
Then I noticed how familiar the sensation felt.
Not the same as Preston.
Not the same as Dennis.
But familiar.
Someone else's fear becoming rules for my body.
At breakfast, I switched off location sharing.
Dominic noticed within ten minutes.
He called.
“Your phone is off.”
“No.”
“I can't see you.”
“Correct.”
Silence.
“Elena.”
“I’m at Rachel’s office.”
“That's not the point.”
“No. It is exactly the point.”
He arrived home early.
We argued.
“You were assaulted while I was three blocks away.”
“I know.”
“I could have been there.”
“No.”
His face tightened.
“If the driver had called me earlier—”
“Stop.”
He did.
I continued.
“You cannot turn the worst thing Preston did into permission to manage me forever.”
“I'm trying to keep you safe.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you fighting me?”
That sentence landed badly.
Dominic heard it too.
He looked away.
After a moment:
“Because I sound like everyone you're angry at.”
“Not everyone.”
I softened.
“But enough.”
He sat down.
For once, he did not solve.
We negotiated.
Driver available, not mandatory.
Security plan for public events we attended together.
No tracking without mutual agreement.
No changing my schedule.
If I wanted to walk somewhere alone, I walked alone.
Dominic hated parts of it.
He agreed anyway.
That became one of the most important consequences of the Monarch Room.
Not revenge against Hale.
May you like
A correction inside my own marriage.
Power does not become harmless because the person holding it loves you.
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