“I wasn’t in love. I was in captivity.”

It started with a chance encounter in a bookstore.
A single book. A single moment.
And the life Anton Volney thought he was building began to unravel.

In this deeply personal and emotionally charged chapter of Permission to Be Powerful, Anton recounts the story of how one book—Codependent No More—shattered the illusion of a happy marriage and awakened a truth he could no longer unsee.

He wasn’t being loved.
He was being erased.

What follows is a gripping narrative of emotional captivity disguised as devotion, of manipulation masked as intimacy. As Anton begins to set boundaries and reclaim his autonomy, the fallout is explosive—and illuminating.

Inside this memoir, you'll discover:

• The subtle signs of codependency most people overlook

• Why setting boundaries often threatens those invested in your silence

• How we confuse control for closeness—and love for survival

• What it takes to walk away not just from a partner, but from a version of yourself

Raw, wise, and unflinchingly honest, The Book That Destroyed My Marriage (and Saved My Life) isn’t just a story about leaving—it’s a story about remembering who you were before you were told who to be.

This is for anyone who’s ever lost themselves in love… and dared to find their way back.