Author: Reena Saxena

Everything about her was a lie…. in fact, I am not even sure that she was actually a woman.  We met online on a dating site called American Singles and we hit it off.  I trusted her, but I was naïve at the time, and I wanted somebody in my life after I left my marriage.  I was the double dotted type of naïve, as I had been with my wife before the internet was invented and I had no idea that I should not trust strangers, as I saw goodness in everyone.  I had not read Machiavelli’s Prince, so I didn’t know that “Its better to be feared than to be loved, if one cannot be both”, and his other bit of wisdom, “Safer is better, too, because you won’t have to watch your back as much.”  I was a trusting soul, and I had no idea that someone would be trying…

Marissa is your typical happy and successful middle-aged woman.

She was in a violent relationship for 10 years. Violence or abuse happened after the first year of their marriage. Initially, it was like, she would not be allowed to go out of the house except if she is accompanied by her husband or whenever she will do a family errand. On that case her husband would closely monitor her calling her all the time until she is home.

Control was the first sign of abuse.

When you are in an abusive relationship for so long, you lose your identity. You believe in the lies you were told. You don’t believe in your ability to live independently. You don’t get much sense of freedom, and on most occasions, you learn to live with it and deal with it quietly for there is nothing much you can do about the situation.

Such…