All this time, I thought he hurt me because I was his. Turns out, it was because I wasn’t.

——

Lily’s POV

Chase's head lolled to the side, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His face was a mess, it was swollen, bruised, and dried blood crusted around his nose and split lip. He looked awful.

Yet, he still wore that same smug smirk. The one I remembered from the worst nights of my life. The smirk that used to make me feel small, powerless.

Even now that he was bruised, restrained, he still wore it like he still had something over me.

His laugh came low, more...