Presley Worthless. Stupid. Pathetic. If ugly words are thrown at you often enough, they eventually become your truth. It’s a complicated, gradual process carved by years of cruelty. The shift is so diminutive in your everyday life; you don’t see the gulch forming until the damage has already been done. At the first fissure, you’re second-guessing your own thoughts. Then, as the gap widens, you start questioning your values, no matter how deeply rooted they may be. Over time, little pieces of your soul are chipped away day by day until your self-worth is so diminished, it’s living on the opposite end of the canyon. You hardly recognize the person staring back at you in the mirror. The only thing you know for sure is how ashamed you are of what you’ve become. I know this because I speak from experience. For almost twelve years, I’d been meticulously conditioned. Molded by a master manipulator. Barely a woman when Sebastian and I met, I was drawn to h...