Chapter 1

The woman I cherished for five years sent me to prison right after our wedding.

She took the stand, committed perjury, and teamed up with her first love to paint me as a monster.

All to ensure I could never threaten his interests again.

Three years behind bars drained every ounce of love I had for her.

Ignoring their intertwined fingers right in front of me, I calmly handed her the divorce papers.

She sneered, mocking me.

"Stop playing games. You think a divorce petition scares me? I'm still willing to take you back. You should be on your knees thanking me."

On the day of my release, Victoria Grant parked her bright red sports car right outside the parole processing center of the State Prison.

The correctional officer who processed my paperwork and escorted me out saw her and chuckled.

"Must be true love. Three years inside, and your wife still shows up to take you home."

I forced a bitter smile.

I didn't tell him that the only reason I had spent the last three years in this hellhole was because of the very woman waiting for me.

Victoria honked the horn impatiently, her brow furrowed.

"Are you going to stand there all day? Get in. I have things to handle at my company."

My company. The one I had built from the ground up with my own blood and sweat. Now, she spoke of it as if it had always been hers.

Her eyes raked over my cheap, worn-out clothes, and she rolled her eyes in blatant disgust.

She hadn't visited me once in three years, yet that look of sheer contempt was agonizingly familiar.

My chest tightened. I couldn't fathom how I had ever loved her so blindly, so recklessly that I walked right into her trap without a second thought.

I walked over to the passenger side and pulled the door open—only to freeze.

Sitting right there was Alexander Sterling. Victoria's first love.

Alexander flashed a blinding, predatory smile and waved at me.

"Ethan. It's been a while. Prison looks good on you. Really grounded you."

My jaw tightened. My hands curled into fists on instinct.

Maybe my reaction annoyed Victoria, because she grabbed her designer handbag and hurled it right at my face.

The heavy metal chain slashed across my forehead. A sharp, stinging pain followed, and I felt the warm trickle of blood sliding down my skin.

I pressed a hand to the wound, her shrill voice ringing in my ears.

"Did three years in a cell make you deaf?" she snapped. "Alexander said hello. Are you just going to stand there like a mute? Is that how they trained you in there?"

Of course she knew I had just spent three years in a maximum-security prison.

For three years, I was the lowest man on the totem pole. I endured relentless torment from the other inmates. I was forced to do the filthiest, most grueling work. I was starved, freezing, and exhausted to the bone. At my absolute worst, I had to huddle by the freezing toilets, unable to close my eyes for even a second.

The suffocating terror of those dark, endless nights pressed down on my chest all over again.

Alexander quickly placed a gentle hand on Victoria's back, soothing her before pulling her into a half-embrace.

"Victoria, don't get worked up. It's not worth ruining your mood," he said smoothly. "Besides, Ethan just got out. He's probably forgotten how normal people interact. We'll just have to teach him."

Victoria nodded, her entire demeanor softening instantly.

She leaned into him, her voice taking on a sickeningly sweet, whiny tone. "I just hate seeing him disrespect you. You're too nice to him. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have suffered so much back then."

She shot me a venomous glare.

As if I was the one who had committed the crime!

Alexander ruffled her hair, smiling tenderly.

"It's fine, Victoria. We survived the worst of it."

Victoria buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Thank you for always staying by my side."