(NewsNation) — At 21 years old, Crystal Hefner was spotted by Hugh Hefner at a 2008 Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion. Four years later, she married the men’s magazine magnate, who was in his 80s at the time.

Crystal stayed with the Playboy founder until he died in 2017 and now, she’s speaking out about her experience in the pages of a book. Crystal’s new memoir, “Only Say Good Things: Surviving ‘Playboy’ and Finding Myself,” paints a dark picture of her time at the mansion.

“When I was at the mansion, Hefner rewarded me for being codependent; so as long as I was just close to him and being codependent, I was rewarded,” Crystal told NewsNation host Dan Abrams. “I had to learn how to not be that way in regular life and also not put my value on what I look like.”

With the book’s release, Crystal said she’s reliving a lot of memories.

“I think back, and I feel like, yeah, that was pretty gross. It was a hard environment. The book dives into the psychology of it because I was introspective,” Crystal said. “I’m, like, how did I end up there? What went wrong in my life that led me to marry somebody that was 60 years older than me?”

Crystal said she didn’t have those revelations until the “Me Too” movement began.

“It changed my perspective and made me realize a lot of things that happened in that house were not OK,” Crystal said, later adding: “I’m glad that times are changing, and things are different.”

She hopes her book will help young people facing similar challenges.