Breaking free...

Lyla

I stood, stunned at Nanny's words, trying to process her demand to break up with Xander.

It made me speechless but only for a moment. Then slowly, a laugh bubbled up from my chest as I crossed my arms.

"Break up with him?" I repeated. "You have no right to tell me that. You cannot ask me to break up with him. There's no reason for that."

"It's for your own good, Lyla!" Nanny sighed. "You'll thank me later, I promise you."

"No!" I scoffed. "Who do you think you are to make such decisions for me? My mother?"

I paused, trying to fight the tears at the back of my throat.

"Newsflash: You're not. I'll be twenty soon. I'm an adult and I can make decisions about who I date or who not to date."