Somewhere Between Then and Now

By Crystal Nicole Cortez

They don't tell you that leaving a toxic relationship can feel just as disorienting as staying in one.

For Sarah, the hardest part wasn't always the fighting, the tension, or the constant feeling that everything could shift at any moment. It was what came after. The silence. The second-guessing. The strange emptiness that followed years of living in survival mode.

Because even after you leave, some things don't leave with you.

Told through raw, intimate moments pulled from real life, this is a story about the aftermath of loving someone who slowly made you feel smaller inside your own life. About the confusion of trying to move forward while parts of you are still stuck looking backward. About learning that healing doesn't happen all at once, it happens in uncomfortable realizations, repeated patterns, and quiet moments you can't explain to anyone else.

Honest, messy, and deeply personal, this isn't a polished story about empowerment.

It's about what it actually feels like to live through it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GZWBKXZ2
• ISBN13: 9798195746087
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 185 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"