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PROLOGUE
Ellery
Boundaries.
A line in the sand.
The straw that broke the camel’s back.
I considered myself a tolerant woman. I’d have to be to have accepted my fate eight years ago, but there was a limit to how much I was willing to endure.
A week ago, I reached that point, and I couldn’t have been more grateful that I’d spent the better part of the last five years preparing for this moment.
Of course, no amount of preparation made it any less terrifying.
Doing it this way meant I was going to be taking a huge risk. I knew I’d be putting a target on my back if I did.
But I had no choice.
I wasn’t sure I’d have stayed alive if I stuck around.
So, I did what I had to do to keep myself safe for the last week, and I pretended all was good in my life.
The reality was that I’d spent many nights awake feeling nothing but dread. It was everything I could do not to give into all the fear I felt and let it consume me in a completely different way.
I couldn’t allow that to happen.
If I did, I knew I’d never find my way out. I’d never see them again, and I’d never be happy. I’d already lost far too much.
Getting ahead of myself wouldn’t help, either.
This was going to take time, planning, resources, and grit.
Fortunately, my resolve was strong, and I was going to do whatever it took to find a way out of this mess.
That’s why I was currently on my way to the mall.
I hated the mall.
Hated it.
But today, the mall was going to be my saving grace, because nobody else knew how much I hated it. In fact, I’d devised a plan and come up with a strategy based on the fact that I’d learned how to pretend for the majority of the last eight years.
I’d done all of the little things necessary. I made the money, fulfilled the roles, and pretended I was content with my life. Happy, even.
But I wasn’t.
I hadn’t been genuinely happy since before I landed myself in this position.
No sooner had I pulled out of the driveway for what would be the last time, and onto the street in the fancy Range Rover I hated driving around because of all that it stood for and represented in my life, when I glanced in the rearview mirror and realized I was being followed.
Of course.
I always knew this was a possibility. In fact, I expected that the moment I needed to execute what I’d devised, someone would follow me.
That was why I was heading to the mall.
It was one of the few places I’d be able to go where I could be gone for hours without anyone questioning my disappearance. Plus, anyone who was ever tasked with having to follow me never followed me inside. They’d spend hours waiting in the parking lot until I finally exited the mall and returned to my vehicle.
