Toxic Girl by Chantal Fernando
Prologue
I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, gathering courage.
I can do this. I know I can.
Why?
Because it’s amazing what you can do when you have no choice.
I keep my gaze downcast, not looking anyone in the eye.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look anyone in the eye again.
I swallow hard, and push everything out of my mind.
I push out why I’m here, why I need to be here.
I make my mind go blank.
I forget who I am.
Instead, I become who I need to be.
A Toxic Girl.
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to the people that were with me every day as I wrote this book.
Ari - I could write a whole page thanking you.
Thank you for your amazing work and everything you do for me. I couldn’t live without you! Oh and thank you for the boxes full of tasty treats and presents! You spoil me! Love ya Cherry…
JC Emery - Thank you for the daily writing sprints, and the encouragement. I really appreciate it.
Pepper Winters - Thank you for being there for me. My signing buddy—I’m going to be seeing a lot of you this year. Lol. Next up- Edinburgh!
Thank you to my beta readers: Kara Brown, Stephanie Knowles, Claudia Juarez, Kimberly Brower and Alice Priday.
Kimberly - thank you so very much for your help on this book. You were honest and I really appreciate the time and effort you put in.
Kara - I annoy more than anyone else, sending her chapters of my work in progress at any random time. I appreciate the time you put in to help me. Thank you so much.
Thank you to my sister Tee, for everything you do for me. You’re my rock.
Becky at Hot Tree Editing - Thanks so much for all your hard work. I really enjoy working with you!
Jenny Sims - Thanks for your help!
A HUGE thanks to Rose and Tash at Forever Me Romance blog for everything they do for me!
Last but not least I want to thank my eldest son Ty. Even though he can’t read my books (and he’s asked), he’s my biggest fan. If you ask him, he will tell you what I’m writing, and all the books I’ve written in order of release.
I love you Ty. You, Tahj & Jax are the reason I breathe.
Never forget that.
I hope you all enjoy Toxic Girl!