Cross your Heart Read online

  “I have a scar on my inner thigh. One you gave me. A bite mark so brutal it remains imprinted in my skin like a tattoo. It’s the only reminder I’m shockingly thankful for because it led to your arrest. It’s ugly and it will likely stay that way forever. Which is fitting because it’s now how I feel as a person. Ugly. Scarred. Damaged.”

  I can feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my face. The liquid stare that wakes me every night; screaming, sweating, and confident I’m ready to die.

  “I Googled how long it takes skin to regenerate. The internet says twenty-seven days. It doesn’t seem like much, but for me, it felt like an eternity before the skin that you had touched would be gone from my body. What I didn’t know was that your touch had burnt itself into my soul. So even if I could shed my skin in the way I hoped, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

  I listen as the court stenographer records my statement, word for word. The soft tap tap of fingers bracketing my words.

  “I see you in every man I come across. The mailman. The police officer who took my statement. The elderly man who walks his dog every morning and every afternoon by my house. They’re all you. I fear you. I fear them. I feel unsafe. I don’t leave my house. Not unless I’m forced to. My life has changed irrevocably from the moment you made the choice to enter my body without consent. I live my life alone and imagine I always will. Interaction with others is now too difficult. Can they see it? My shame. Do they know how disgusting I am? How dirty?”

  A tear falls from my lashes and I wipe at it quickly, annoyed that he’ll see me cry again.

  “Eight months ago I had my whole life ahead of me.” I force myself to look at him. The blink of time that our eyes connect enough to open the floodgates as my tears begin a continuous journey down my face. “Now I’ve pushed away every friend I’ve ever had. I quit my job. I ended a relationship that up until you, made me feel like the most special person in the world. Now I feel like a nobody. I have no direction because I’m lost and no matter which direction I turn, it’s you that I come up against.”

  He stares at me blankly, the picture of perfection in his chair.

  “Eight months ago I was young. I was happy. Now, most days I feel ready to die. My self-worth is so low I consider that the world would likely be a better place without me. Happiness is a memory I can no longer recall. I can’t remember feeling anything but the emptiness I’m now consumed by. You stole my life, Miller Jacobs. You stole my life when you violated my body. You’ll leave prison one day and live your life. There will be roadblocks for you, I’m sure, but I’ll live in the prison of my mind for eternity. I curse you for that, for making me both the victim and the sentenced.”

  Folding my paper, I hold it in my shaking hands. Looking away from my rapist, I focus back on the judge. Knowing that I just handed over the final thread of strength I had been clinging to. I was right. From the very tips of my toes to the hairs on my head, I feel devoid, empty. Zoe Lincoln no longer exists. Not in this world. She gave the last piece of her soul in a show of strength, but it took everything from her in the process.

  Continue reading: IMPACT

  About the Author

  A blonde. A brunette. A tea lover. A coffee addict. Two people. One pen name. Haley Jenner is made up of friends, H and J. They’re pals, besties if you will, maybe even soulmates. Consider them the ultimate in split personality, exactly the same, but completely different.

  They reside on the Gold Coast in Australia’s sunshine state, Queensland. They lead ultra-busy lives as working mums, but wouldn’t want it any other way.

  Books are a large part of their lives. Always have been and they’re firm believers that reading is an essential part of living. Escaping with a good story is one of their most favorite things, even to the detriment of sleep.

  They love a good laugh, a strong, dominating alpha, but most importantly, know that friendships, the fierce ones, are the key to lifelong sanity and fulfillment.

  Also by HALEY JENNER

  Please visit your favorite eBook retailer to discover other books by Haley Jenner:

  The Leave of a Maple Series

  Archer (#1)

  Jake (#2)

  Bennett (#3)

  Maples, Strawberries and Fairy Tales (#3.5)

  Luca (#4)

  Toby (#4.5)

  The Chaotic Rein Series

  Tangled Love (#1)

  Impact

  Impact