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His hands fall from my arms, releasing me as he takes a step back like my words slapped him across the face. “How could you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth,” I say, grabbing the photo album out of the drawer and tossing it into the suitcase closest to me.

Faster.

Need to pack faster.

My laptop is sitting on the dresser behind Owen and I step around him, cautiously, to grab it and the charging cord.

As I come back around him, I glance up at his face. His eyes are wide and his brow furrowed as he rakes his hands over his short hair, staring at a spot in the carpet in front of him. And I take advantage of his distraction, scanning the room around me.

I won’t say that I’ve managed to collect all my things but I think I grabbed the most important stuff and maybe once things calm down a bit, I can come back and grab everything else. With one last look around the room, I turn towards the bed and close the suitcases, zipping them up and pulling them off the bed.

“No,” Owen shouts and I glance up at him. His eyes dart from me to the door of our bedroom before landing back on me. I pull the handle up on both suitcase and his eyes widen. He lunges towards me and grips my arms again, shaking his head. “You can’t… if you leave me, Lennon… I will… I’ll kill myself!”

I stop short.

Shit.

I wasn’t expecting that.

As much as I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore, I also don’t want to see him hurt himself. But, I also wholeheartedly believe that I can’t stay just to keep him from following through on his threat. If I give in now, if I allow him to get away with this, he’ll use it for the rest of our lives. Anytime I reach my breaking point and want to leave, he’ll utter those words and keep me trapped in this hell until I really do collapse from exhaustion.

“Owen,” I say, calmly, and I grab a suitcase handle in each hand. “I really really hope you don’t do that but I have to leave and you can’t force me to stay.”

He grits his teeth, his eyes widening as his grip on my arms tightens to the point of pain. His eyes are locked on mine as his brows drop into a glare and his grip tightens, further.

Ow.

I bite my lip to hold back a whimper as I stare up at him.

“Owen, let me go,” I whisper, my heart pounding in my ears and my hands start to tremble.

Would he really hurt me?

It’s never been a concern of mine but the look in his eyes right now is honestly terrifying.

And I don’t know what he’s capable of to keep me here.

“No,” he forces through clenched teeth, his complexion turning red. “I can’t let you leave, Lennon. You’re mine.”

Breathe, Lennon.

Think.

How the hell do I get out of this situation?

“Owen,” I hiss as his grip on my arms increases. Fuck. That is going to leave a mark. “You’re hurting me.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not letting you leave, Len. You’re staying and we’ll work this out. You can’t leave.”

I want to scream at him that there is no working this out but even in my sleep deprived state, I can see that that would be a terrible idea so I slowly nod.

“Okay, Owen,” I murmur. “We’ll work this out.”

His grip loosens slightly, his face relaxes almost completely. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nod again, releasing the handles of the suitcases and forcing a smile to my face as I look up at him. “I’ll stay and we’ll talk.”