Vanessa hurries to escape Emma’s apartment before Richard arrives, fearing what he might do if he finds her. When she crawls into a cab, his overpowering lemony scent hangs in the air—he’s just left it. She marvels at the great flaw in her plan to escape her marriage to Richard: She was “sacrificing an innocent young woman” (296).

Vanessa remembers all the signs of Richard’s temper, beginning with the night she kissed Nick up until she confronted Richard about Duke. After the night of the gala, he no longer concealed his violence. That night, after slapping her, he lifted her up from the ground by her hair and whispered that he’d always be around. The next morning, Richard brought her breakfast in bed and promised to be home early that night with dinner. Later, Vanessa heard the doorbell but didn’t answer it. Richard called soon afterwards, sounding concerned, and told her to open the door. When she did, a courier handed her a package and eyed her deep purple bruises. Vanessa opened the package to find a gold cuff, perfectly sized to cover the bruises wrapping around her wrist. Over the next few years, she would collect lots of similar

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