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I stayed for the whole three years, at which point he made it pretty clear that I had no choice in the renewal. But he also insisted I go back to college (again, status symbol), where I met someone very dear. He was nice and didn't want just sex. We spent time together as friends, and I started to develop what I recognize now as genuine love. I hatched an insidious plan, and my owner caught me in bed with my new friend. It shocked the hell out of him, and he ordered me out.

And, just like that, I was free. For the first time in my life, I wasn't someone's property.

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The only person who owned me was me, and a little bit Sally Mae if I decided to take on student loans.

It's not an easy adjustment to make -- the hardest part of recovery has been seeing myself as more than chattel. If I burn dinner, I have an immediate panic attack. If I don't pleasure my fiancee enough, I know he'd never ever hit me, but I still feel this sense of, "Oh crap, I'm gonna get it," like an involuntary reflex. That constant need to be useful, to be perfect, it doesn't go away. I suffer from PTSD. I gained what psychologists call "defensive weight" and wore men's clothes for years trying to hide the fact that I was a woman and to seem unappealing.

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It has only been within the last year, when I started building healthy relationships, that I have started trying to lose weight, to see myself as pretty, to do what I want within my own life. I've devoted myself to the online business I started in secret years ago and commit myself to doing charity work. Every day my goal is to defeat "the girl in the mirror" who still bears the scars. Even then, I know that doing this article is putting me at risk -- I'm sure my previous owner still Googles me and tries to find out where I am and what I'm doing. Someone could find this and forward it to my parents. I really don't care at this point. I share this in the hope that I can give others the courage to speak. People need to know that slavery in America never ended, we just got better at hiding it.

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Here is a list of resources if you or someone you know is in this situation. This article was constructed from an interview with the victim and verified by a healthcare professional who worked with her during her recovery.

For more insider perspectives, check out 5 Realities of Being Gay in a Country Where It's Illegal and 5 Reasons Being a Male Porn Star Is Less Fun Than It Looks. Have a story to share with Cracked? Email us here.

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