Chapter 2

Once memories started to surface, they came rushing in like a flood.

The red string bracelet lying in the slop bucket was something I'd painstakingly woven in prison. My eyes nearly went blind because of that.

That year, Nathan was six. Edwin told me Nathan had a high fever that wouldn't go away, and his pneumonia had turned serious. He might not make it through the winter.

I couldn't get out, so I could only grovel in front of the iron bars, praying to anyone who might be listening.

An old woman in prison told me about a Harbor City tradition: a red string bracelet woven by a mother could fool death and tie her child's fate to life.

By moonlight, I tore plastic cord into thin threads. My fingertips were sliced open, blood soaking into the red thread.

As I wove, I wept, pleading with every deity to spare my child.

Later, Nathan survived, but on the day I was released, he snipped the red string right in front of me and tossed it away.

I did go to prison, but it was for Edwin's crime.

Eighteen years ago, Edwin was just a hired muscle, working security.

He made enemies, and to protect me and Nathan, he beat up several guys.

There was no way I could make it in the city alone with Nathan, so I took the rap and spent ten years behind bars for Edwin.

In prison, I was tormented, and the second child growing inside me was lost, leaving nothing but a pool of blood behind.

Back then, Edwin dropped to the ground outside the visitation window, tears streaming down his face as he promised, "Tessa, when you get out, I'll make you the most dazzling woman in all of Harbor City."

It was that promise that kept me going through 3,600 days and nights.

When I first got out, Edwin kept his word.

He brought me back to his mansion, and every night, he'd wash my feet himself and caress the scars on my body.

With red-rimmed eyes, he'd hold me tight and say, "Tessa, you suffered so much for me. From now on, everything in the Stone family belongs to you. I promise you'll never have to suffer again."

He settled me in his home, and I became Mrs. Stone, the hostess of the mansion.

At first, I thought it was love.

But later, I realized I was just something Edwin wanted to hide, a stain he couldn't wash away.

All that over-the-top care was just his way of showing everyone he was grateful. That was all.

Guilt had an expiration date.

Six months. It had only lasted six months.

Edwin brought me along to those fancy parties, but I couldn't even hold a wine glass right.

Whenever I met his business partners, they'd snicker behind my back, calling me a hick just out of jail.

Weariness spread like mold. By the time you noticed, it had already crept over every inch of your life.

Edwin started coming home late, smelling like a different woman's perfume every night.

One day he was out buying jewelry for some newbie actress, and the next he was showing off at the casino with a young model on his arm.

I called him out on it, but Edwin just yanked his tie loose, annoyed, and tossed his shirt with lipstick stains all over it onto the floor.

He said, "Tessa, it's all just meaningless flirting for business.

"You don't get how things work in business. If I don't wine and dine, how am I gonna pay those people at the company?

"You'll always be my wife. Isn't that enough for you?"

Yeah. I went from being a nobody in Satinate, a slum, to Mrs. Stone. Guess I should be grateful.

I started pretending not to notice, and even tried to be the kind of wife everyone expected. That was, until Vivian Chase came into the picture.

She wasn't like those flashy girls Edwin used to hang around with. Vivian was classy, always knew what to say, and she was the kind of woman who could help Edwin out, always knowing how to handle things.

She could teach Nathan piano and horseback riding, too.

To Nathan, she was everything a perfect mom should be.

On Nathan's birthday, I spent the whole day in the kitchen, hoping to make him happy.

I made some hot dogs and cooked up a huge pot of stew, the kind everyone from Satinate loved.

I kept waiting, and when the door finally opened, Nathan walked in with his hands in Edwin's and Vivian's.

Nathan glanced at the stew, like it was something filthy. "It stinks. What is this, pig food? It's so greasy. Disgusting."

He swiped his hand, and the whole bowl of steaming stew splashed all over me.

That was how I got the scar on my leg.

Nathan didn't even look at me. He turned and dove into Vivian's arms. "I'm not eating this. Only beggars would eat stuff like that. It's humiliating."

The pain was so intense that I could barely stay on my feet. Instinctively, I looked to Edwin, hoping he'd say something to show he cared.

But Edwin just frowned, and his eyes were filled with nothing but disdain.

In that moment, I felt something inside me break.