Notes: written for the Novel and Short Story Titles prompt challenge (.net/topic/74474/50885698/1/) - Carole Mortimer - Brand of Possession

Emily avoided the mirror in her bathroom.

She faced the shower as she undressed, and when the hot water flamed scarred skin red, she closed her eyes, washing in darkness. Steam turned the mirror into nothing more than another section of wall, and by the time it cleared enough to see, she had dried and dressed and covered the parts of herself she couldn't bear to see.

Emily chose her shirts carefully.

She tried on every article, bending, twisting, stretching; assuring herself that lines of pink against white would never be seen. It would have been easier to wear shirts that were higher cut, but the scar she carried over her heart was a secret, and she would not reveal it with a change in behavior.

Emily refused to date.

She adamantly opposed every attempt by well-meaning friends to introduce her to a man, lest her desire for companionship lead to unanswerable questions about the shamrock on her breast. She resigned herself to remaining alone, her friends and her cat her only confidantes.

Ian owned her.

And even though he was dead, he still haunted her, controlled her, possessed her in a way he had never been able to when he was alive. Because he had branded her with his mark.