I was terrified all the time.

I couldn't go on like this. I was even afraid of my own shadow.

I heard a noise downstairs and I knew Allan was home. He was probably searching the cabinets for his stash of alcohol. He was more violent when he was drunk.

I heard my stomach grumbled again. I was really hungry, but I couldn't go downstairs, because he would see me and find a reason to hit me.

I really don't know why my mother had married him. What had she seen in him? I don't know why I ask that question, because I already knew the answer. He was rich and my mother needed the money.

Dad died when I was ten and we started to have money issues. My mother had to do something in order for us to get by, so a year later she married Allan. She didn't love him and I knew he didn't love her either.

Her Saving Grace

I giggled. "Really? Wow, it's hard to imagine the big bad Carson afraid of the dark until he was eleven." I smile widely, my eyes twinkling mischievously.


"I hope you don't tell anyone about this. If I hear it at school, I'll know it's you." He warned playfully.


"Your secret is safe with me." I replied. I then made an act of zipping up my lips with my fingers. Carson chuckled then give me that heart-stopping smile of his. "So, is there anything else that you want to tell me that I don't know?"


"I like you." He said and I instantly froze. Was he joking with me right now?


"What?" I asked quietly, searching his eyes for any sign of joking. I didn't see any.


Carson moved from his laying position and sat up facing me. I sat up as well. He noticed my wide eyes and the confused look on my face. He smiled at me nervously.


Chapter 45