She wears all black, like her soul. Yet her heart is made of gold.
Prologue
She didn't realise how easy disappearing would be. Gone without a trace. She laughed bitterly at that thought. Who would have cared enough to find her anyway? Her estranged ex husband, her loved up brother or her disgusted best mate. She wasn't sure which was most unlikely anymore. Still, she was almost glad now. Two years later and she could at least say she was getting back on track. Her life was a mess.
It didn't stop the dreams though. Every night. The memories of what she'd left behind, who she'd left behind. Why. She had to do it.
She didn't let herself think about that during the day. She couldn't, for fear of falling apart. She couldn't let herself crumble when she had someone so reliant on her. Someone who needed her to be a tower of strength so their own life didn't fall apart as well. The only thing keeping her fighting.
Speak of the devil.
Carla leaned down with a warm smile to scoop up her daughter, her hair dark like both her parents and eyes brown pools of love just like her father's. She could get lost in those eyes. They had always been her weak point. Now they always would be.
She hated herself for the pain she knew she had left behind. But she knew every time she looked into her daughters precious eyes that she had made the right choice. The life she had built for them after leaving the street hadn't been everything she had dreamed off, how could it be? Her baby girl growing up without the father that would be painfully missing her endlessly. Maybe he deserved it.
At least she had Marc now. He wasn't enough to fill the void in her heart but he was all she had right now. He would keep her safe, he'd been fiercely protective of her since she met him and she figured that could only be a positive. He had money and a beautiful home for her daughter to grow in. That was what mattered, wasn't it? Ignore it Carla. Ignore the way he reminds you of your ex lover, rapist.
Because really, what use was she to her daughter if she was in prison?