Chapter 2

The room was filled with all sorts of torture devices.

He ordered the guards to tie me up and hang me from the ceiling beam. Then he stripped off my shirt and whipped my back with a long lash, again and again, until my back was nothing but blood and raw flesh.

I'd never experienced brutal torture like that before. I passed out instantly from the pain.

But then they brought over a basin of saltwater and, with zero mercy, poured it right onto my wounds.

That agony was etched into my memory for life.

After they'd had their fun beating me, they threw me into the cell with the same troublemakers from that morning.

To punish me for snitching, they spent the whole night torturing me with whatever they could get their hands on.

It turned out that they'd bribed the warden, so now every inmate steered clear of them.

I'd really pissed off the toughest guys in there.

After that, the warden started coming up with all sorts of ways to torture me.

Sometimes, in the middle of a blizzard, he'd sneak me out of the prison, strip me bare, and throw me right onto the snow.

Then he'd force me to crawl on my knees, shouting at the top of my lungs, "I'm a worthless wretch! I'm not good enough for Andrew!"

Other times, he'd use some ancient torture device, like clamping my hands in a vice and yanking them apart until my finger bones cracked, leaving my hands so limp and useless I couldn't even move my fingers anymore.

Every time they tortured me, I couldn't stop myself from screaming until my throat was raw. Eventually, my voice was so damaged that all I could produce was a raspy whisper.

They even stabbed something sharp into my right ear, ripping my eardrum apart. Now, I could only hear faint sounds from that side.

But I was a pianist. The most important parts of me, my ears and my hands, were ruined in prison.

The warden said, "1931, you were born to be a worthless lowlife. You manipulated your way into marrying Mr. Hensley, then framed Ms. Turner and pushed her to the brink of suicide. Everything that's happening to you is what you deserve.

"You should rot in here and suffer, pay for every wicked thing you ever did!"

The warden said these things to me every single day, making me wish I were dead.

Andrew was driving, and when he noticed I wasn't saying a word, he shot me a look and said impatiently, "Alissa, what, are you mute now?"

With my right ear turned toward him, I could only make out his faint voice.

Hearing him insult me, I gave a bitter laugh.

Back then, whenever I was with Andrew, I couldn't stop talking. Even though he always ignored me, if he ever bothered to say a single word to me, I'd be over the moon for days.

Andrew always found me too chatty and would tell me to shut up all the time.

Now that I had finally stopped talking, he complained that I had gone mute.

But Andrew, my throat was already ruined from all those gut-wrenching screams.

"I'm scared I'll bother you," I rasped, my voice so hoarse now. Nothing like the bright voice I used to have.

Andrew seemed to pick up on it, shooting me a suspicious glance.

But then, as if something dawned on him, he shot me a nasty glare. "Alissa, I've told you before. Those disgusting tricks of yours don't work on me."

Andrew figured I was playing the victim again.

I used to try to explain myself, but I didn't even bother anymore.

Andrew quickly drove us back to the city's wealthy district.

At the doorstep, he turned to me and said, "Lucy has no idea you went to prison for her. When we go inside, don't let anything slip. Understand?"

I lifted my gaze to the villa I once knew so well.

This was once my home, the house Andrew and I shared as newlyweds.

But now, the mistress of the house was someone else.

And me? I was just a guest everyone wished would disappear.

Lucy heard us and came out of the house.

When she saw me, she flashed a big smile and rushed over. "Alissa, you're finally back! You've been away studying abroad for years and haven't visited even once. Everyone's missed you like crazy."

I looked at Lucy's face. It was kind of familiar.

Did she seriously not know I went to jail for her? Impossible.

The warden only treated me that way because Lucy bribed him.

I still remember that time I happened to overhear the warden chatting with one of the guards.

The warden said, "Ms. Turner told me inmate 1931 is nothing but worthless scum. Don't bother with her life or death. Make her suffer, and you'll get a nice reward."

It was Lucy who bribed the warden, and that was exactly why he made it his mission to torment me.

Andrew visited me in prison only once in those three years.

That time, I was so desperate, I grabbed the phone like it was my last lifeline. The first thing I blurted out was, "Andrew, Lucy bribed the warden to make my life hell! I already took the blame for her. Why does she still want me to suffer?"