Chapter 9 - The Woman Before Me
There was one prior woman.
Not another captive.
Not another hidden victim.
That was important.
Her name was Lauren Pierce.
Ryan dated her for eighteen months before meeting me.
Investigators contacted her because old platform complaints referenced Ryan.
Lauren agreed to speak.
She had consented to comedy/prank videos early.
Then Ryan posted increasingly humiliating footage after she withdrew consent.
Arguments.
Crying.
One clip of her vomiting after a party.
She demanded removal.
He refused.
She threatened legal action.
The platform eventually removed several videos and suspended an account.
Lauren broke up.
She never alleged confinement or physical assault.
She did say:
“He loved the moment I stopped laughing.”
That sentence lived in my head.
Margaret hated Lauren too.
Called her dramatic.
Manipulative.
Unstable.
The same vocabulary.
Lauren had escaped before dependency deepened.
I did not.
That did not make her smarter.
It made circumstances different.
She testified later about Ryan’s history of ignoring withdrawn consent, but the judge carefully limited what could be used to avoid turning old bad relationship into proof of every new crime.
May you like
Again:
Process.
