Publisher's Synopsis
Betrayals, heartbreaks, and triumphs. Giant glowing parties, glamorous night clubs and celebrity run-ins. Bad boys, deaths, drug dealing and stripping. Horrible accidents, shocking fights, and appalling behavior. Life in L.A. was always crazy. Still, a battered woman was the last thing confident and outspoken Sydney expected to be.
This is the true story of a woman who was destined to have a charmed life. From an upscale family in a fancy town, everyone thought her road would be paved with gold. Her stepfather was a lawyer, her mother was a shark and she had always held her own. Little did she know that domestic violence can spin out of control very quickly in a victim's life. It can affect even the most unlikely suspects, regardless of social class, race, or gender.
Sydney tells her story from when she first realized her life wasn't normal. A mother who took discipline too far. Boyfriends and friends who became increasingly violent. Her own drug and alcohol abuse and the loosening of her own boundaries. It all seemed like something she could handle, until she met Tyler.
Abusive relationships are extremely dangerous situations and Sydney's was no different. Her entanglement with Tyler took her into a hell that she could not have imagined possible. Even with her Krav Maga skills and street smarts, her life became one of social withdrawal, heightened fear and debilitating anxiety. She often felt like she was going crazy and trying to hold her life together became more and more difficult.
One day she realized that she wanted to change how her story would end.
She would fight back.
Excerpt
"I stood up to try and calm Tyler down, but it only made him become more ferocious. He lunged to choke me and I quickly reacted, using another technique I learned in Krav Maga. I jammed my fingers into each side of his mouth between his teeth and his cheeks and I pulled as hard and as fast as I could. RIPPPPP! I had ripped the inside of both of his cheeks straight up to his eyes. The portion of skin that was connected to his gums was now flapping around like a wayward flag. Blood started pouring out of his mouth. He was so shocked. I could tell it was incredibly painful. He went after me, he jumped on top of me and started trying to punch and choke me. I kept moving my head around so he couldn't land punches. Evie screamed I'M CALLING 911! This stopped him. He got off of me and went out to the garage. When he came back in, he had a video camera. He was videotaping his face because the blood was still pouring out. He was so wasted and trying to make this video that he said he was going to give to the police.
I think about it now, and I think, come on! But he really had me scared. Besides my meds, I thought maybe he would set me up, or bring up my past dealings. I felt like I was going insane. I started to doubt and question myself."
