Chapter 1

Eight years. That's how long I rotted in a cell for a murder I never did.

And there he is. My husband. Waiting at the gate with roses and our twins, smiling like he didn't put me there himself.

His eyes fill with tears. "Vivian. Baby. You've learned your lesson. From now on, you've got me and the kids. That's it."

The reporters swarm in. They've been waiting for hours.

"Vivian Hayes! You used to be America's sweetheart. Tell us, what was going through your head when you tortured that poor delivery driver?"

"How did you feel when his family set the fire that killed your parents?"

"Your CEO husband got down on his knees on live TV for you. Your kids grew up labeled the children of a killer. Any regrets, Vivian?"

The cameras and mics push at my face like weapons. Every question wants me dead.

I don't say a word.

Then someone shouts over the rest. "Chloe Bennett has confessed her love for your husband on camera. Multiple times. Will you finally let him and the kids go? Give them a way out?"

A way out? I almost laugh.

They're the ones who never gave me a way out. Damon was the one who begged me to take the fall for Chloe.

.......

All those vicious questions, and Damon didn't say one word to defend me.

But the second someone says Chloe's name? He snaps his fingers. The bodyguards move in.

"Sorry, folks. Ms. Bennett is a respected actress. Please leave her name out of this."

My own kids look like they want to swing at the reporter.

"Chloe is beautiful and kind! How dare this killer even say her name!"

I gave birth to these two in prison.

I worked the laundry shift during the day with one of them strapped to each side of me. At night I rocked them for hours so they wouldn't wake the other inmates.

The day Damon came to take them, I asked him for one thing.

"Send them overseas. As far as you can. And whatever you do, keep them away from Chloe."

Now I'm out. And I find out the two babies I almost died for were raised at her knee.

Turned into knives. Pointed at me.

The car ride home is silent.

Damon reaches over and takes my hand, careful, like he's testing the water.

"About what happened back then. I want to thank you. For Chloe."

I don't move.

"You were already married. Pregnant. You'd been talking about retiring anyway. Chloe had just graduated. Her whole career was in front of her."

I laugh. It comes out ugly. "So?"

I turn and look at him. "So the real killer walks free, and I'm the one who has to bury my parents and lose my kids? Is that what you're telling me?"

He doesn't answer.

When he finally speaks, his voice breaks.

"Her parents saved my life, Vivian. I owed them. Blame me. Hit me. Yell at me. I swear, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

Eight years of cold concrete. The reporters tearing me apart at the gate. All of it falls apart in my chest the second he says it.

I start shaking. The sobs rip out of me. He pulls me against his chest.

His voice is low. Steady. The voice I used to fall asleep to.

"It's over, baby. It's all over. We're gonna have a beautiful family. Just us and the kids."

It's such a beautiful picture.

It shatters the second I walk through the door and see her.

Our house. Exactly the way I left it.

Brighter, actually. Warmer.

Because the day they put me in cuffs, Chloe moved in.

She walks up to me like she owns the place and grabs my hand.

"Vivian! You're finally home! I made dinner. We've been waiting all afternoon."

I rip my hand away like she's diseased.

Damon's face turns to ice.

"Vivian. I get you're pissed. Take it out on me. Don't take it out on her."

He steps between us.

"Yeah, you took the fall. But she's the one who raised our kids while you were gone. She put her whole career on the line for this family. Drop it already."

"Drop it?"

Nothing in prison ever hurt the way that sentence just did.

"You want me to thank her, Damon?"

I want to scream the rest. Why wasn't he at our anniversary dinner that night? Why was he at her birthday party instead? Why did he throw his own pregnant wife in a cell to save her?

Chloe jumps in before it can blow up.

"It's okay, Damon. Really. She needs time. I knew this would happen." She gives me a soft, sad little smile. "You two eat. I'll get out of your way."

Her eyes go red right on cue. The picture of hurt.

But she doesn't let a single tear fall. She just spins around and runs back to her room.