100% it has nothing to do with her. She is just the vessel, she represents ego.
If she came back to him tomorrow, then he's just gonna start abusing her again, pushing the limits of what he can do to torture her mentally/ emotionally. The goal is to totally break her, to where she has no will left and can only see every moment of her life with him--the present and the future. He has to jail her, so she never leaves.
It's like locking a princess in a tower, so only you can have her. Bowser shyte, but some guy is going to try to come save her and you gotta crush every guy who tries to give her hope of escaping. Without her in the tower, nikkahs can't function, they can't be who they really want to be. Without her there is an empty part of a man's soul.
He probably loves her more than anyone else ever has, maybe even more than her parents. The problem is that she's not listening. You want her to be strong, but never strong enough to forget she needs you, so you need her to be weak enough to forever be your doormat.
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