Paper Ring Permission

Verse 1

You wore a judge’s smile in a Sunday suit

Talked about forever like honest men do

Threw a little box in my shaking hands

Said, “Here’s your fucking ring” instead of romance

Should’ve known right then what love would become

A house full of silence I could never outrun

You played the hero, took my babies’ names

Built a little kingdom while hidin’ your shame

Behind closed doors, I learned the truth

Love don’t leave a soul black and blue

Chorus

Just because you married me

Don’t mean my body lost its voice

And adopting all my children

Didn’t buy you every choice

You called control devotion

Called my silence “proof”

But love don’t take by force at night

Then blame the wounded truth

You can’t call it love

When all you did was use

Verse 2

Twenty-six years of walkin’ on glass

Holdin’ my breath, prayin’ storms would pass

You crossed lines no vow could defend

Then made me carry the weight again

Now I’m sweepin’ ashes off my skin

Learning where your shadow ends

And mine begins in daylight gold

A woman reborn, not bought or sold

Bridge

I was not your secret

Not your cage, not your crown

And God knows every tear

That never made a sound

Final Chorus

Just because you married me

Don’t mean you owned my soul

I survived the darkest hands

And still came out whole

Now every scar’s a warning

Every step’s my proof

A woman can rise from the wreckage

And still remember truth

Outro

You took my trust

But you won’t take me too.