Chapter 1

When I was seven, I accidentally wandered into the basement and saw a woman in a red dress chained to the corner like an animal.

That’s when I learned the ugly truth: my dad wasn’t just a monster—he was a maniac. The woman chained in the shadows wasn’t a stranger. She was my mother.

For ten years, they’d been married. For ten years, he’d subjected her to unspeakable horrors. He forced her to eat rotting meat crawling with maggots, raped her whenever the mood struck, tore into her flesh with his teeth, and drank her blood. Sometimes, he’d make her dance barefoot on shards of broken glass, laughing as she bled.

After that day, I started secretly helping her, slipping her food and water when I could.

The summer I graduated high school, I saw my chance.

My dad had left town on one of his business trips, and I finally worked up the courage to get her out.

I thought I’d done it. I thought I’d saved her.

But as we reached the front door, he appeared. It was like he’d known all along.

What happened next still haunts me.

The mother who had just moments ago been crying tears of gratitude, clinging to me as if I were her last hope, suddenly turned on me.

Her face twisted with venom as she pointed at me and screamed, “Honey, I told you! She’s been trying to get rid of me so she can have you all to herself!”

I froze, unable to process her words.

“She’s jealous!” she shrieked. “She’s always hated me! I only set a tiny trap, and she couldn’t wait to send me away. You see, darling? You see how cruel she is?”

Then she turned to me, her eyes blazing with hatred.

“How could I have raised such a disgusting little wretch like you?” she spat.

My world fell apart in that moment.

I was dragged to the basement, where I became my mom’s replacement.

For months, they tortured me.

My dad’s cruelty was expected, but my mom? She stood by his side, watching with a smug smile as he tore me apart, her hand resting lovingly on his arm. They whispered sweet nothings to each other, their romance blossoming as I screamed for mercy.

In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I threw myself against the concrete wall until everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room.

I recognized the date instantly.

It was the day my mom first begged me to save her.