Whilst Lucy was sleeping, I sat back and just watched her delicate little chest breathe in and breathe out. She just looked so innocent and beautiful laying there with no acknowledgment with what was going on around her. She never once whimpered or wined or screamed at the top of the lungs when she knew I was in distress. Perhaps she had some sort of psychic tendencies as she lay still when I was sadly screaming on the inside after receiving yet another beating, for I don’t know what.

This relationship with Stewart had initially made me feel alive and I felt as though I had finally had some self−worth in my life. I felt appreciated. I felt loved and wanted and after all the issues I had growing up, this was just something that had made me feel whole, or so I thought. But the reality was somewhat different to my