Page 238 of Invisible Bars
“I was happy… giddy, even. The kind of high you get when you really believe everything’s finally coming together. And then…”
Dessign collected herself with a slow breath, holding back whatever was about to break loose.
“An eighteen-wheeler blew through a red light. Hit my car on the driver’s side,” she revealed.
A knot curled low in my gut, tight and sudden. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t interrupt.
“I don’t remember the crash… just the silence afterward. I couldn’t feel my legs, couldn’t move, and everything hurt—but somehow, not enough to distract me from the panic.”
She finally looked at me.
“It wasn’t my fault but I paid for it anyway.”
Damn.
My chest tightened. I knew that feeling too well—the kind where life takes a swing at you, and somehowyou’rethe one left apologizing for bleeding.
“W-what happened to the person who hit you?” I asked, my voice soft. “Did you have a lawsuit?”
She gave a humorless laugh. “He just lost his license and can never drive again. Imanio and Chi wanted to kill him, but I needed their focus on me, not getting revenge.”
Dessign leaned back, adjusting the way she sat, like she was balancing pain and pride.
“As for if I got paid?” She cracked a grin, full of fire and survival. “Big time.We sued his insurance, the city, the tow company, and the pothole that started it all. Girl, I’m basically sitting in this chair with equity.”
I chuckled. “G-good. You deserve every penny.”
“Yeah.” She continued her tone, shifting to one of somberness. “But the real cost was in everything else I lost. During my recovery, that same man I left at the chapel, he treated me like I was a burden… like I’d ruined his life just by surviving.”
Dessign’s smile twisted, more pain than pleasure, like she was laughing at a wound still bleeding.
“I used to be known for my fashion; not just the way I wore clothes—but because I made them. I had a following before the accident. But after? It exploded. People were sending me flowers, letters, hell, even donations. My page grew overnight, and my story made headlines. Meanwhile, he was using me for clout.”
“Oh, wow! H-how?” I quizzed, blinking rapidly while my arm jerked upward.
“He began posting photos… acting like he was this perfect, supportive partner. But behind closed doors, he was cold, distant, and emotionally manipulative.”
My heart broke for her. “H-how long did that go on?”
“One year too long,” she said it without emotion, like the words were just facts she no longer felt. “On year of pretendingI was okay. One year of hiding bruises that weren’t always physical.”
“H-how did it end between you two? What was the final straw?” I interrogated.
Dessign’s sighed, the tension leaving her body like air from a balloon.
“Naji, sometimes we have to decide that this is the last time that these people will make me feel this way, and stand on it… and I did that day.I just woke up one morning and realized who the fuck I was. Oh, and… I finally told Imanio.”
I hesitated, then asked the question sitting on the tip of my tongue.
“W-what did he say?”
Dessign scoffed. “You mean,do?”
She looked at me with a slow, knowing smile that said more than any confession could.
“Let’s just say he hasn’t been a problem since,” she replied, her tone light, but final. “And he won’t be again.”
She didn’t go into detail, but the shift in her voice said enough.
