James
She blinks and a little of the tension in her shoulders ebbs. I pursue my point.
“Charlotte, I can’t deny that I bought you in the first place because I saw a beautiful young girl staring out at me from an advertisement and I wanted you. It was that simple. But since then, I have come to know you and I have seen the lengths to which you will go to achieve what you want to, to meet what you see as your duties and obligations. I have absolutely no doubt that any child of yours would be protected, nurtured and loved in every way that matters.”
She’s not looking at me yet, but I have her attention. I continue. “It’s a bit of a cliché, but there is the old saying that ‘That which does not kill us makes us stronger’, and off-hand I’d say you are the best living proof of that I have ever seen. I believe that when the day comes that you choose to have children, the appalling upbringing you had will work for them and for you, because you remember what it was to be treated like that.”