"You'll never leave me " "I will kill you " "I couldn't cope without you. Please don't leave me " These words were like a broken record, but this was just the beginning. Melanie was brutally abused by her children's father. Both physically and mentally, he tried to break her spirit, her drive, her passion until there was nothing left. She hid behind her smiles, and thought that she would never have the strength to leave him until a new determination came upon her and the drive for a better life prevailed when she could take no more.