My lawyer husband sent his mistress of two years to prison for me. But when the judge asked for his final testimony, he looked me in the eye and changed everything. "I'm testifying on behalf of Chloe Martinez." His voice carried across the courtroom. "The person who killed my in-laws wasn't Chloe. It was my wife, Aria Bennett." Six years. That's what the judge gave me for manslaughter I didn't commit. I screamed my innocence until the bailiffs dragged me out. Julian wouldn't even look at me. He kept his eyes on Chloe, who dabbed at fake tears with a designer handkerchief. Prison changed me in ways that can't be undone. They took my left eye with a rusted spoon in the shower block. My leg snapped in three places when they threw me down the stairs, the bone jutting through skin. The knife that carved up my face was dull, and they made sure I stayed conscious for every stroke. I tried to appeal. Filed motion after motion until Julian's people made it clear that wouldn't be tolerated. "Boss says to tell you---shut up or the six years becomes your whole life," the guard said before she held my head in the toilet and flushed. I lived like something less than human. When Julian picked me up from the gates two months early, he draped his arm around my shoulders like we were still in love. Like I wasn't half-blind and limping, my face a roadmap of scars. "Chloe's young," he said, casual as weekend plans. "Her youth shouldn't be wasted behind bars. You're different. You can handle it." "Six years flew by, didn't they?" He smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "As long as you don't cause trouble for Chloe anymore, I'll treat you right. We can move past this." I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and typed a message to the number I'd memorized in my cell. *I**'**ll marry you. But first, you help me kill two people.* The response came within seconds. *Names.* *Julian Hart. Chloe Martinez.* *Done. I**'**ll collect you in one week. Their heads will be your wedding gift.* I shut off the phone and shoved Julian away. His expression darkened. "Aria, I know you're upset about the testimony, but Chloe couldn't survive prison. She's too fragile." "You've risked your life for me before. I didn't even ask you to take a bullet this time---just six years. Why are you being difficult?" My fingernails cut crescents into my palms. He knew exactly who Chloe had killed. Not strangers. Not random victims. The couple who raised me from nothing, who gave me a name and a home when I was three years old and alone in the world. On our wedding day, I told him the truth---I was an orphan. If my foster parents hadn't taken me in, I wouldn't have survived, let alone married someone like him. He cried. Actually cried. Held me and swore on everything holy: "I'll take care of you the way they did. They are my family now. I'll make you happy for the rest of your life." Then my parents drove to pick me up after one of our fights. Chloe's car hit them doing ninety in a forty zone, drunk off her ass. She dragged their bodies two hundred yards before she noticed. Julian promised justice. Promised the person responsible would face consequences. Then he found out it was Chloe and threw me under the bus instead. "Julian." My voice came out raw. "Chloe killed my parents." "You were my defense lawyer. You turned on me in open court, twisted the narrative until everyone believed I was a murderer, and shielded the real killer. Six years. Don't you feel even a shred of guilt?" Hearing the accusation in my voice, Chloe quickly tucked herself into his embrace, tears already streaming. "Aria, I know you hate me for the accident, but I never meant to hurt anyone. Your parents walked right in front of my car. What was I supposed to do?" She pulled a knife from her purse. Pressed the blade to her wrist. "If you still blame me, I'll just end it right here." Julian tore the knife away and crushed her against him. When he looked at me, his eyes could've frozen blood. "Chloe's suffered just as much as you these past six years. She became a vegetarian to atone for your parents' deaths. She's prayed for their souls every single night. Do you have to be so unreasonable?"
His words scraped against the raw wound where my heart used to be. I was the one who lost my parents. I was the one who rotted in a cell for six years. But somehow I was unreasonable. Did he forget what his people did to me inside? Every time I tried to appeal, the punishment got worse. They used that rusted spoon on my eye because it hurt more than a clean blade. The steel plate they broke my leg with had nails embedded in it. The knife that carved my face was dull as a butter knife. They held me down and made me drink from the toilet while the ringleader spit on me. "Boss says you need to learn when to shut up. Keep filing appeals and he'll make sure your six years turns into forever." I'd curl into corners where the guards couldn't see me, shaking. Not just from the pain in my body, but from the agony in my chest. Four years I stood by Julian's side. Chloe showed up for two months and erased everything. One word from her about being scared, and he fabricated evidence to bury me. One word about not wanting him to visit, and he abandoned me for six years straight. I wanted to die so many times. But the hatred growing in my chest wouldn't let me. If I died, I couldn't avenge my parents. Couldn't clear my name. I walked up to Chloe and slapped her hard enough to leave a handprint. She shrieked and grabbed her face. Julian seized my wrist, his grip brutal. "Aria, have you lost your goddamn mind?" "An apology means nothing unless she's dead." My voice came out flat and terrible. He backhanded me across the face. I hit the ground, tasting copper. My vision swam, but I forced myself to look up at him. "Six years wasn't enough punishment," he snarled. "You think you can put your hands on Chloe now?" "Remember---I got you out two months early. I can send you right back." He scooped Chloe into his arms and walked out without a backward glance. I stayed on the ground. My right eye started going dark too. The vision in it had been getting worse for weeks. That night, I drafted divorce papers. I found Julian's estate from memory and pushed through the front door. A birthday party was in full swing. Everyone turned to stare when I stumbled in with my cane. "Oh my god, isn't that Julian Hart's wife? The one who killed her own parents?" "She looks like hell. One eye gone, limping around. What happened to her?" "Karma. She murdered her parents and framed that poor Chloe girl. Didn't expect Julian to expose her in court, did she?" "People like her get what they deserve in prison. Bet the other inmates taught her a lesson." Chloe covered her mouth, eyes sparkling with glee as she approached. "Aria! You should've called ahead. Julian just threw me a little birthday party. You're not upset, are you?" Her smugness was obvious. But I couldn't stop staring at what she wore. The custom gown cost more than most people's cars. While Chloe draped herself in haute couture, I'd been trading manual labor for thin blankets in the prison laundry. Six years passed. Chloe looked radiant. I'd lost a leg, an eye, both parents, and any semblance of the person I used to be. All courtesy of Julian Hart. I dropped the divorce agreement on the table. "Julian, sign this. We're done." He laughed. Actually laughed. "Aria, are you stuck in the past? Look at yourself." "You're half-blind, you limp, and you murdered your own parents. Who else would accept you besides me?"
I'd heard worse. Much worse. Years ago, when a defendant's family took Julian hostage, I went alone to get him back. They stabbed me through the uterus with a hunting knife. The doctors said I'd never have children. Julian asked me why I risked my life. I told him he was family---the only family I had besides my parents. Family knows exactly where to stick the knife for maximum pain. My scars weren't armor. They were ammunition he used against me. "I didn't kill anyone, Julian. You know that better than anyone." My voice cut through the murmurs. His expression darkened. He rushed to correct me before the gossip could spread. "The judge convicted you. You did it. Or are you planning to lie about that too?" Hearing my accusation, Chloe grabbed my hand, tears already forming. "Aria, I know framing me for the accident didn't work out the way you wanted, but Julian only threw this party because he felt sorry for me. I'm alone in this city, working so hard. If it bothers you, I'll leave. Please don't fight with Julian because of me." Her words hit the crowd like a grenade. "That bitch is even worse than we thought. She's bullying Chloe right in front of us!" I ignored their judgment. I was staring at Chloe's wrist. At the bracelet catching the light. My father worked three jobs for four months to buy me that bracelet for my eighteenth birthday. He had my initials engraved on the inside. I wore it every day until it vanished right before my arrest. Now it gleamed on Chloe's wrist. I grabbed her arm. "Where did you get that? It's mine. Give it back." She dropped to her knees, sobbing. "Please stop tormenting me! You can have anything else, but this bracelet is special. Julian gave it to me for my birthday." I whirled on Julian, voice shaking. "That was the last thing my father gave me before he died. You had no right to give it to her!" Julian looked uncomfortable. For half a second, guilt flickered across his face. Then Chloe screamed and threw herself backward. Her head cracked against the edge of the coffee table. Blood poured from her scalp. Julian lost it completely. He lunged forward to help her, then kicked my broken leg. "It's a bracelet. Does that justify attacking Chloe?" He snatched up the divorce papers and scrawled his signature. "You want a divorce? Done." "But don't come crawling back like a dog when you realize your mistake." I collapsed, vision blurring red. Julian threw the signed papers at my face. The irony cut deeper than any of the prison beatings. I'd tried to divorce him dozens of times during those six years. He refused to sign every single petition. But one injury to Chloe, and suddenly he couldn't get rid of me fast enough.
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