Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-25396609-20191130155818/@comment-26397825-20191212230645

She was mentally abused at first, not physically. And the biggest indicator of this is what Adam himself said;

Adam: I wouldn't have to be doing this if you just behaved!

A big thing abusers do is control. They control their victims, keeping them close and downtrodden so they never leave. Another thing they do is victim blaming; when the victim does something the abuser doesn't like, or something happens that the victim had no control over but the abuser needs someone to take their frustrations out on, they blame the victim. "I wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't..." etc.

Blake left, which tipped Adam from only mental abuse (control) to being a physical threat to her life. He emotionally and verbally abused her after she left by giving emotionally devastating threats as well as general insults ("I will destroy everything you love, "You're a coward!", "You're selfish!"). He physically abused her by not only attacking her, but doing so in a way that he knew wouldn't kill her but would really fucking hurt and leave a scar to haunt her memory (stabbing her in the gut).

It escalated after she got herself out, yes, but abuse is still abuse. It doesn't matter if you can't see the damage it does, it's all just as bad as each other. Some even claim emotional and mental abuse is worse, because you can't tell the person is being abused ortaken advantage of, and the wounds from that experience take a lot longer to heal (and cost a lot more if you need therapy).