Introduction

For a year, chef Amelia Hayes lived a secret life, hidden from the world as the wife of Charleston old money heir, Ethan Vance.

Her dreams were on hold, her identity masked, all for the "right time" Ethan promised would come.

But their clandestine world shattered when Ethan' s manipulative stepmother, Cassie Thorne, discovered their marriage.

Cassie issued a cruel ultimatum: Amelia had twelve months to make Ethan publicly claim her, or she would sign divorce papers and disappear forever.

What followed was a relentless campaign of psychological and physical torment.

Ethan, shockingly, enabled Cassie, prioritizing her every whim over Amelia' s well-being.

Amelia was publicly humiliated, framed, fired from work she loved, and brutally beaten.

The ultimate betrayal came when Ethan, shielding Cassie from a perceived threat, accidentally shattered Amelia's wrist, yet remained utterly blind to her pain, his concern solely for Cassie.

Lying there, broken and abandoned, Amelia grappled with the stinging injustice.

How could the man she loved so deeply, the one she sacrificed everything for, be so callous, so utterly blind to her suffering?

How could she escape this nightmare of betrayal and despair?

In that moment of profound agony, her hope, her love, died.

A new resolve ignited: she would not just survive, she would break free.

This was no longer a fight for Ethan, but a fierce battle for her own self-liberation.

She chose to reclaim her life, no matter the cost.