The Perfect Man

By

Darryl Martel

Emma Hartley thought she had finally found everything she was missing. After years of disappointing relationships and the demands of single motherhood, she meets Daniel Reeve....a man who seems to embody patience, stability, and devotion. He's thoughtful. Charming. He listens. And best of all, he embraces both Emma and her young daughter, Lily, with open arms. Their romance is quick but full of quiet moments that feel like safety.

Their wedding is picture perfect. Their families blend easily. They move into a beautiful house and have a second child together. From the outside, their life is everything people hope for.

But inside their marriage, something darker is taking shape.

Daniel's love starts to feel more like surveillance. He tracks Emma's calendar. Manages her phone. Rearranges her finances "for her benefit." He tells her who to trust and who to avoid...slowly cutting her off from her sister Sarah, her friends, her independence. The changes are subtle at first, wrapped in the language of care and concern. But after the birth of their second child, Emma begins to recognise the truth: she is being controlled.

As Daniel's grip tightens, Emma finds herself living a double life....outwardly compliant, inwardly unraveling. She begins documenting everything. Secret notebooks. Backup phones. Hidden files. It's not just fear that drives her...it's the growing realisation that her children are learning this version of love, too.

When Emma finally escapes with her children to a safe house, Daniel fights back. He launches a public smear campaign, weaponising social media to frame himself as the abandoned, loving husband. But in court, Emma brings something stronger than accusations: evidence. Her voice. Her truth.

The Perfect Man is a story of coercive control told through the eyes of a woman who refuses to be erased. A chilling and emotionally charged portrait of how abuse hides behind the mask of love and what it takes to reclaim your life after being owned, silenced, and slowly rewritten. It is about motherhood, survival, and the quiet, radical act of choosing yourself when the world tells you not to.