Introduction

For seven years, my life was a cold, silent prison.

My husband, David Chen, the tech world' s golden boy, saw me only as his sister Emily' s murderer.

What happened to Emily that day at the lake was an accident, a tragedy.

But to David and my adoptive mother, Olivia, it was my fault, a debt I had to pay every single day.

My punishment?

The hard, cold floor of a barren guest room was my bed.

His cruel words, "A murderer doesn't deserve comfort. This is where you belong," echoed in my ears every night.

Every month, I would present him with divorce papers, a desperate plea for freedom.

And every month, he would tear them, burn them, a grim ritual reminding me there was no escape.

Why did they hate me so much?

What had I truly done to deserve this unending torment, this life lived as a ghost in a gilded cage?

But the constant humiliation, the silent contempt, the pain-it all fueled a secret fire within me.

I meticulously saved every penny, selling sketches online, denying myself even basic necessities to afford a one-way train ticket.

Tonight, the charade ends.

I' m walking away from this living hell, from a man who promised me a life but delivered only a sentence.

I' m reclaiming my name, my future, and the woman I was always meant to be.