chapter add on to around 2008 to 2014


I didn’t notice it right away. The change was slow. At first, it was just a text.
“I’m thinking of coming over — is that okay?”
It seemed polite, maybe even thoughtful. But before long, it wasn’t a choice anymore.

Josephine used to have a key. She used to just come. That was our rhythm — no need to ask, no need to check. But now, there were rules. Invisible ones. Ones I never agreed to.

If I didn’t reply in time, she’d say she had to stay at the club. Or worse, that they told her not to come if I hadn’t answered. I realised then — the club had taken something from her. Her independence. Her confidence. Her right to decide where she wanted to be.

I thought I’d given her a space to grow. But they rewrote the rules behind my back.


---

This could be one of the most powerful scenes in your story — not just about the end of visits, but how the power to visit was taken from her.

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