I Used Their Fear to Control

I knew exactly what scared them and I leaned on it. I told them they wouldn’t cope alone, that no one else would put up with them. I framed it as honesty, not threat. When they talked about leaving, I reminded them of their debt, their anxiety, the things I handled for them. Over time they stopped trying. I called it stability. They called it love. I knew which parts were lies and kept using them anyway.