Excerpt of Silently Broken by Maegan Abel

I hadn’t realized Zane was finished until he set the cup
in front of me. He
followed my line of sight as
I looked away from the chair he’d been sitting in about
six months ago when he
held me as I cried. I
closed my eyes, pushing that thought away. That girl was
broken. She was
damaged. That wasn’t me. Not
anymore.

“Lili,” he whispered, and I cringed.

“Don’t call me that,” I said automatically, letting out
my breath in a rush as the
realization of what
I’d said struck me. I opened my eyes, grabbing the mug.
“Sorry.”

“What do you mean?” he finally asked as I sipped on the
hot liquid slowly. It
burned on the way down but
I ignored it, needing the excuse not to answer that
question.

“Just an automatic response. I’m fine,” I answered,
blowing off what was
happening.

“Would you stop fucking saying that?” he snapped, causing
me to jump a little.
Startled, I kept my eyes
on the mug but neither of us moved as we waited for the
other to take the next
step. Finally, I lowered
the glass to the table.

“What would you like me to say? Hmm?” I knew I should
stop, walk away now and
not make this worse, but I
no longer cared. “You want to know why I told you not to
call me that?” I looked
up, meeting his eyes.

“Because I’m. Not. Fucking. Her. I’m not that girl.”

“Yes, you are—” he started, but I cut in before he could
finish.

“No.” I laughed, but the sound was hollow. “No, I’m not.
You see this face and
you think I’m her, but
I’m not. You’d be closer to the truth if you called
Kaitlyn by that name.”

He flinched back from the name and I waivered, the part
of me still able to feel
guilt worming her way
back in as I watched his expression.