It’s who she is.
Margaux can’t help but try to salvage the unsalvageable.
She feels guilt, fueled by Phil’s blaming her for something Timmy clearly never intended to follow through with.
She’s probably worried—with good reason—about her belongings.
And she’s clinging to the life she imagined with him, to the version of him he pretended to be when they first met.
Margaux’s journey isn’t over. She’s still tethered to Timmy in so many ways—financially, emotionally. But she’s taken the first step. She left, even if it was only for a couple of days.
They say it takes the average abuse victim seven attempts to leave their abuser, so this is a step in the right direction, and it would be foolish to have expected it to be a permanent move.
I hate that she has to go through this.
I hate him for making her question her worth.
The texts she’s sent over the past few days paint a picture of pure madness—Timmy, drunk and ranting about imaginary slights.
Timmy, destroying her property out of petty revenge.
Timmy, playing victim to anyone who will listen.
And Phil—goddamn Phil—laps it all up, enabling his son’s every destructive whim.
When I found out Timmy destroyed Margaux’s prized laptop, I wanted to fly straight to the Cay and put my fist through Timmy’s face. Destroying her MacBook wasn’t just a petty actof revenge—it was an attack on her livelihood. Her writing is everything to her—it’s her escape, her passion, her means of survival. And he just… poured water into it? For what? To prove he could?
He’s a child, lashing out at the person who loves him most, because he knows she’ll forgive him. Or at least, she used to. Not anymore.
The list of damages is staggering. The printer, the specialty drinks, the missing window screen—he’s made a game of dismantling her world and costing her endless expense.
And for what? Because she had the audacity to stand up to him?
Because she saw through his act?
Every broken item feels like a message:This is what you get for leaving me. This is what you get for speaking up and trying to hold me accountable.
She’s starting to see him for what he is—a narcissist, a manipulator, a parasite. Her research on DARVO and reactive abuse is helping her untangle the mess he’s made of her mind. She’s realizing that the guilt he’s heaped on her shoulders doesn’t belong to her.
I hate Timmy, and I hate Phil for defending him.
I have to believe she’ll keep walking. Because the alternative? That’s not a world I want to imagine.
For now, I’ll stay here, ready to support her however she needs.
Timmy and Phil might have broken her spirit, but they’ll never break her completely.
She’s stronger than they could ever understand.
And I’ll make damn sure she never forgets it.
CHAPTER 102
HAPPY FUCKING ANNIVERSARY
MARGAUX
The tiki bar’s exterior lights flicker like fireflies, casting a nostalgic glow over the adjacent parking lot. The same place where Timmy and I visited when we first met now feels like a battlefield, its charm soured by his unpredictable behavior.