I crept into my house as quietly as I could and mentally switched gears. I was back in survival mode. Even though the bedroom light was on, there was always a chance that Steven was already asleep in bed. Much to my dismay, he was awake, laying on our bed, and glaring up at me the second I popped into the room.

"You stayed out for a long time." He huffed. "It's almost ten at night, where were you?"

I felt anger rising in my chest as I retorted, "I've been gone for less than three hours, that's not nearly as long as when you go out for your DND campaigns. Those usually last around five or six hours." The double standards he put into place pissed me off more than anything else. I hated not having the same rights as him, and I hated how he could rule over me and treat me like garbage without suffering any consequences from my family or the church.

"Don't talk back to me." He growled lowly. "You stayed out longer than you should have."

It was so unfair, but instead of feeling sad, my fury stayed raging within me.

"Three hours is nothing... I'm moving out permanently." I said coldly. "I know you're never going to change, so there's no need to waste my time with you anymore. My parents will let me live with them as long as I need to, so that's what I'm going to do."

This was a new sensation. Typically, I never stayed angry for long. I was so fed up with being mistreated that living with my parents for the rest of my life didn't sound like a bad idea anymore.

"Shy, you can't do that!" He bellowed furiously as he leapt up to his feet. "I have needs! You can't not satisfy me!"

"I'm never satisfying you again." I said as I grabbed my phone from my pocket and texted my parents to come pick up Oliver and I. "I'm done with that. You'll have to marry someone else if you ever want to get laid."

I was on a roll. I had never been this blunt or bold before with Steven, or with anyone in my life. It felt incredibly good to be open and honest with my thoughts, regardless of how ugly they were or how hurtful they were towards Steven. He deserved to hear every last one of my opinions, it was only fair considering how he ruled over me like a tyrant. I only felt and thought this way because of how badly he treated me.

I could hear a huge blaring sound coming from outside, so I scooped up Oliver from his bed and ran towards the front door. It sounded like sirens from a police car. They had come to pick me up and save my from Steven's abuse! As I reached to pull open the front door, I opened my eyes.

I woke up in bed to the alarm going off on my phone. Steven's place beside me was empty, meaning he was playing video games again, and would inevitably be too tired to spend time with Oliver later that evening once he got home from work.

Nothing had changed. I hadn't stood up to Steven, it had all been a dream...

Waking up to reality hurt more than anything else. I was still stuck with an abusive man, and my family put pressure on me to stay with him so they wouldn't look bad as Christians.

How do I escape without being blamed as the sinner? I didn't know what the answer was to that, so I prayed to God that I would love my husband more even though I loathed him more and more with each passing day.

I knew that Salvador was right. I had to initiate if anything were to ever change. I thought back to him asking me what I wanted to do, and tears flooded my eyes once more. I had to do something to change my situation so I could be free, but what?

My phone suddenly rang. I looked and saw that it was my mother calling, so I quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Shy, I know this is last minute, but I need you to come with your father and I to California next Monday. Your older brother is getting married, and you're going to be the maid of honor."

"Oh wow!" I gasped. I hadn't kept in touch with my older brother for awhile, mainly because he had been attending college and was busy doing homework and assignments, but I had known that he was dating Noelle, a young woman from one of his classes. I guess things had been going well enough for them to get married.

"We've already bought you a plane ticket. Oliver will have to stay behind with Steven for this trip. Sorry this is so sudden, they had to speed things up because Noelle's grandfather isn't doing well and they really want him to be there for their marriage."

"Understandable." I stated, since my mother couldn't see me nodding my head from over the phone.

"Your father will talk with Steven and make him understand that this has to be done. We'll pick you up Monday morning, and we'll be flying back in Friday afternoon of that same week. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yes, but whose going to work for Dad while we're gone?" I asked as I thought about the work I did for the radio station.

"You are, honey. We'll take Dad's laptop so you can keep working even while we're traveling." Mom stated in a matter of fact tone.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Okay, sounds good."

"We'll see you at Sunday family dinner. Love you!" Mom said before hanging up the phone.

Even though it didn't solve my problems, getting away and traveling back to California, the place where I grew up, sounded like a nice miniature vacation to me. It would be nice to see home again and enjoy the warm weather, even if I would be working on helping with the wedding as the maid of honor.

I thought through my day as I got Oliver up and dressed. It was Friday, so I needed to get my son ready for the school bus. I would then hang out with Salvador, come back and get Ben, take him to the park, then drop him off at my parent's house for a sleepover so Steven and I could have a date night... I nearly laughed aloud as I thought of how angry Steven was going to be at my parents once they dropped the news of the wedding on him. He would have to spend five days alone with our son, without having me to do everything for him. Steven was going to be pouting all evening because of that.

Once the bus rolled up to our home, I walked Oliver out and kissed the top of his head.

"I'll see you soon, sweetheart." I said lovingly as I watched him walk up the steps of the school bus before the doors closed behind him. Over all, he was a wonderful kid, I just wished he talked more. I would be taking him to the Pediatrician in another month because I wanted to ask about Oliver's development.

Once the bus turned out of our neighborhood and was out of sight, I went over to the garage and got ready to head over to Salvador and Amber's house. Salvador's depressed looking face was seared into my memory, along with Amber's contradicting stories, and I really hoped that I would be able to help both of them.