Isabelle's POV

Time passed. Minutes, hours, perhaps even days.

I no longer knew how to keep track. My head was spinning, thirst tormented me, my dry mouth burned, and my tears had long since dried up, leaving me in a state of numbness. Carl didn't just want to kill me. He wanted to torture me first.

I thought about August.

About the strange beginning of our relationship, so unconventional. The stolen moments, the love that had grown where it never should have. The marriage that had start