finally, successfully broken her.
This was different from last time. Last time, she acted like this to annoy me, but
this time, it felt real. She’d lost hope of any escape, the idea of revenge completely
obliterated. The only hope she held on to now was for me to make her happy when
she made me happy. And though I was enjoying my victory of finally having beaten
Jaden into permanent submission, I would not have her remain this way for very
long.
I had expected this type of regression. It was phase one in a sense; break her
down to nothing and build her back up the way I wanted her. She was certainly
broken, and now, I had to re-create the glue that would hold the pieces together.
But before I pulled her back into the right direction, I needed to make sure this was
real. I needed to make sure she wasn’t just fucking with me again to piss me off.
I sat at my desk with my eyes fixated on my computer screen. Jaden fiddled with
her hands as she sat on the couch, talking with Sid. I’d hoped this session wouldn’t
go nearly as bad as the last one had. Although that would determine if she was a liar
or not.
“Hello, Jaden,” Sid said politely as he sat on the opposite couch in front of her.
“Hi, Sid,” Jaden replied, her eyes not making full contact.
“How are you doing?”
Jaden shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Just fine?”
She didn’t say a word, just nodded with the tiniest ghost of a smile barely
visible. She was doing it to be polite.
“You don’t seem fine,” Sid commented, leaning in to regard her.
Jaden’s eyes widened for a moment like she’d been caught doing something
wrong.
“I swear I’m fine,” she insisted. “Have I done something wrong?”
Sid shook his head. “No, you’re not in trouble. I just want to make sure you
really are okay. You look tired. Are you sleeping well?”
She hadn’t been. She’d wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, believing
she was back in the basement. She’d calm down immediately when she realized she
wasn’t, but it was still hell getting her back to sleep. I finally had to drug her to get
her to sleep through the night.
“Not really,” she said.
Sid regarded her closely.
“Bad dreams?”
Jaden looked away toward the floor. “Sometimes.”
“They will pass eventually.”
“I know,” she said with a slight nod.
“You seem to be eating well,” Sid said, trying to play on the positive.
That was the only thing I was happy about. She was eating; albeit the portions
were smaller, they were always healthy. I decided to compromise a little after
everything I had put her through. I couldn’t have her throwing everything up again
if her anxiety overwhelmed her.
Jaden responded with a small smile. “I know it makes Darren happy when I do.”
“What else do you suppose makes Darren happy?”
Jaden sucked on her bottom lip before responding, meeting Sid’s gaze. “When I
do what he says.”
“And what makes you happy?”
“Making him happy.”
I felt my heart skip a beat. Good girl.
“Is there anything else that makes you happy?”
“Not really,” she said softly, hopelessly.
Not a shocker. The only thing she focused on anymore was me. And that was
exactly what I had wanted. The problem was she didn’t care about herself, not her
mental well-being. I originally needed her focus on me, and now that I had it, it was
time to add a subsection: her. I wanted her not only happy to please me, but I also
wanted her to be happy with me. I wanted her to enjoy life outside our relationship,
but it was clear she wasn’t in that mindset. Just because she was with me for the
rest of her life didn’t mean she had to be unhappy outside of my attention and
affection.
After a while, I had tried to goad her, just to see if I could get a rise out of her, but
she would never bite. She’d always concede, and I couldn’t help but smile and
relish in my twisted success. I’d ruined her. Officially fucking ruined her. And now,
it was time to fix it. I needed to remind her of who she was and why I had chosen
her in the first place.
I needed to really piss her off.
“What about Camaro?” Sid asked.
Jaden shrugged. “She does her job just like everyone else does.”
Sid took a deep breath and exhaled before he revealed his analysis. I waited
anxiously for him to light the match. “Would you like to know what I see, Jaden?
What my observations have led me to? You seem to have a feeling of indifference to
your life outside Darren. You don’t sleep, we’re grateful you eat, but you don’t seem
to find enjoyment in anything anymore. You don’t play with Camaro, you don’t
paint anything with real color, you don’t speak with volume, you walk with your
head down, and the most disturbing thing of all is you don’t even train anymore.
Why, Jaden?”
Jaden shrugged again. “There’s just no point in fighting anymore,” she said
simply.
“No point?” Sid asked incredulously.
“Mention her father,” I said into
