/0/85798/coverbig.jpg?v=297f300371d825e6b12be6300522a24e)
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.