Chapter 1

My husband, Charlie Branch, died, leaving behind two million dollars in debt.

I didn't hesitate to take on his debts, but my best friend, Callie Doyle, was freaking out.

Back then, Callie convinced me that since Charlie left me with nothing, there was no point in paying off his debts.

So I signed away my inheritance, declared I had nothing to do with anything he left behind, and tried to dodge the debt.

But the debt collectors wouldn't let me off the hook. They kidnapped my son, Michael Branch, and forced me to pay.

Watching as they mailed me my son's fingers, one by one, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.

In just 24 hours, I begged every relative I had, but all I managed to scrape together was 35 thousand dollars.

In the end, my son died a horrible death, and those lawless debt collectors sold me off to Kagash.

Then, Callie suddenly claimed her son was a billionaire's illegitimate child, and he inherited billions of dollars.

It wasn't until I saw on TV that I realized the billionaire was my husband, who'd died unexpectedly, that everything finally made sense.

Charlie had been pretending to be broke all along. Callie's son was really his secret child, and all the inheritance I gave up ended up in their hands.

Unwilling to accept it, I tried to escape back home to settle the score with Callie, but I died under the electric fence of a slave camp in Kagash.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Callie tried to convince me to give up my inheritance.

*****

Callie said, "Charlie was dirt poor, and now he's left you saddled with two million in gambling debt? Why on earth should you be the one to pay for his mess?

"Irene, you should just walk away from the inheritance. If you don't take anything, you won't have to deal with Charlie's debts. The debt collector won't have any leverage over you."

Outside, the debt collectors hammered on the door, each thud making my heart race and my chest tighten.

Inside, Callie kept pleading with me, earnestly and again and again, urging me to give up my inheritance.

Back then, I believed her.

I gave up the inheritance so I wouldn't have to pay off Charlie's debts.

But Ayden Barron, the debt collector, was a real criminal. He played by his own rules and didn't care about any of that.

He was convinced I was hiding money, so he kidnapped Michael and chopped off his fingers one by one to threaten me.

Every three hours, a new bloody finger arrived in the mail.

I called every single relative, but all I managed to scrape together was 35 thousand dollars.

I knelt until my forehead was bleeding, begging Ayden to let Michael live.

But he said I was just putting on a show and insisted on making me suffer.

When Ayden slit Michael's throat, blood splattered everywhere, and my whole world went crimson.

It wasn't until the third day after I was sold to Kagash that I finally regained consciousness.

Michael was gone, and I could never go home again.

I was stripped naked and tossed onto a muddy wooden plank, waiting for some doctor to come and harvest my kidneys.

On the old TV next to me, my late husband's face suddenly appeared.

It turned out Charlie Branch was the CEO of a publicly traded company worth billions of dollars.

His heir was Callie's son, the illegitimate child he had with her behind my back.

Then, it finally hit me why Callie had been so insistent that I should give up my inheritance.

If I walked away, the entire fortune would go straight to her and her son.

Meanwhile, Michael and I would be nothing but lost souls, doomed by debt collectors.

I couldn't accept it. I fought with everything I had, desperate to escape and make Callie pay.

But that was a slave camp in Kagash, and not even a fly could escape.

I died under the electric fence, my body charred beyond recognition.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Charlie's creditor came knocking at my door.

This time, I swore Callie wouldn't get her way.

They wouldn't get anything that was meant for Michael and me!

I yanked my hand free from Callie, her diamond bracelet flashing so bright that it made my eyes sting.

"Charlie is my husband, and by law, whatever he left behind is mine. I'm claiming every bit of it," I said.

Outside, Ayden kicked the door open and took in the stripped-bare room, his brows furrowing at the sight.

He waved the debt note in his hand, leaning against the doorframe, making it clear this gambling debt was no joke.

But I answered without hesitation, "I'll take on the two million dollars in debt."

Just a few words from me made Callie's eyes go wide. "Irene, with the way things are for your family, you might have to borrow money just to pay for the funeral.

"That's two million dollars! Are you seriously saying yes to that?

"If you walk away from the inheritance now, you can still keep the house your folks left you.

"But if you don't, you and Michael might not even have a place to crash!"

Callie saw me hesitate and thought she was finally getting through to me.

She dipped into her platinum purse, pulled out the inheritance waiver paperwork, and slid it over to me.

She urged, "This is what you should be signing. If you don't do it for yourself, at least do it for Michael.

"If you can't pay, you'll be branded a deadbeat. How will Michael ever be able to face his classmates at school?"

Callie pleaded with me, sounding genuinely worried.

But instead, I checked her out from head to toe, eyeing all the luxury stuff she was decked out in.

They were not knockoffs. Everything was legit.

It took me a whole year after we got married to finally afford a pair of plain silver wedding bands for Charlie and me.

Callie tapped the spot for my signature, but the simple rose gold ring on her finger could've bought me ten wedding rings and then some.

Three years into my marriage, I got harassed at work and started thinking about finding a new job.