Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of domestic abuse, mental health stigmatization, and sexual assault.

In the Prologue, Joy describes an argument with her husband, Quiet Boy or QB in which she tells him that she wanted to separate from him “for a while” and that she would be taking their nine-month old daughter Rosie with her (1). In response, he growled and threw a sweatshirt at her. Joy remembered all of the other things he had thrown in her direction, including “a vintage rolling metal laundry basket.” This behavior had been encouraged by her husband’s father, Les, who saw it as a way to display passion.

For the past nine years, Joy had been splitting her time between the Family’s home in Idaho and the set of One Tree Hill in Wilmington, North Carolina. However, the show’s cancellation prompted her to return to Los Angeles to audition for new roles.

She had been going to therapy and practicing setting boundaries on her husband’s outbursts. When he threw the sweatshirt at her, she decided she had had enough and was leaving. He threatened to sue her for custody of Rosie, but despite his threats, she left.