Chapter 1

Midsummer of 2003.

Just after turning 19, Dominic Clarke was sent to Flatstone Prison in handcuffs and leg irons.

A week earlier, Dominic had attended a graduation party. Egged on by his classmates, he confessed to Judy Ward, the girl he had secretly loved for three years, only to be coldly rejected.

That night, weighed down by heartbreak, Dominic drank until he passed out.

When he woke up, he found Judy naked, bruised, and dead beside him.

It was clear she had been violently assaulted before her death.

Later, several witnesses stepped forward and claimed they had seen Dominic force Judy away and take her into a hotel.

Based on their testimony, Dominic was arrested, convicted in less than a week, and sent to prison.

No matter how loudly Dominic cried out that he was innocent, no one listened.

Dominic's parents stood outside the prison gates while holding cardboard signs smeared with blood, the word "Innocent" written across them.

Across from them were more than a dozen of Judy's relatives, wearing black outfits and wailing in grief.

When the transport vehicle arrived, both sides rushed forward and clashed right in front of it.

Outnumbered, Dominic's parents were pinned to the ground and beaten by Judy's relatives.

Thankfully, the guards at the gate rushed in and forced everyone apart.

Dominic's father, Harry Clarke, had a gash on his head. Blood was streaming down his face, yet he ignored it and shouted at the transport vehicle as it passed through the gates, "Son, don't be scared. I know you've been framed. I'll clear your name, even if it costs me my life!"

Watching this, Dominic broke down in tears.

After completing the intake procedures, Dominic was taken to his cell.

There were seven inmates inside, all big, heavyset men with vicious looks on their faces.

Seeing how thin and clean Dominic looked, they all showed cold, predatory smiles.

Once the guard left, the men immediately surrounded him.

The leader was a man with a long scar across his face. He sized Dominic up and asked coldly, "Kid, what are you in for?"

Dominic answered softly, "I-I was framed—"

Before he could finish, Scarface punched him hard in the stomach.

Dominic had never been beaten like this in his life. The blow made him feel as if his organs were about to burst, and he collapsed, retching on the floor.

Scarface planted a foot on Dominic's head and snarled, "You don't get in here without being guilty of something.

"When I ask you a question, answer properly. If you don't, then you get beaten."

With tears in his voice, Dominic said, "I swear, I was framed…"

Scarface snapped. "Still lying, huh? Beat him up!"

With a wave of his hand, the others rushed in and pinned Dominic down, punching and kicking him.

By the time they dragged him back in front of Scarface, his face was swollen and bruised.

Scarface pressed Dominic's head to the floor with his foot. "I'll ask again. What are you in for?"

Dominic had always been stubborn. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I was framed…"

Scarface exploded. "Looks like you haven't had enough. Hang him up and beat him!"

The men tied Dominic's hands with bedsheets and suspended him from the bunk, taking turns beating him for over an hour.

Even as he lost consciousness, Dominic stubbornly insisted he was innocent.

Scarface and the others didn't dare kill him, so they finally let him down.

After that, they stopped treating Dominic like a human being at all. Any time they were in a bad mood, they slapped him or pinned him down and beat him.

Dominic once tried reporting it to a guard, which led to one of Scarface's lackeys being punished.

As a result, Dominic was hung up and beaten all night long, almost killing him.

From then on, Dominic became much more obedient and avoided Scarface and his group whenever he saw them.

His only hope was that his parents could clear his name and get him out of this living hell.

Before he realized it, three months had passed.

Lately, Dominic had been unusually restless.

His parents hadn't visited him for over a month.

There was a visit every month without fail. It was the only chance Dominic's parents had to see him, a date all three of them counted down to together. They had never missed one.

But this month, his parents hadn't come, leaving him deeply unsettled.

He knew they would never abandon him. Had something happened to them?

That night, Dominic gathered his courage and asked a relatively kind guard, Conrad Baldwin, to help check on his parents.

The next afternoon, while Dominic was eating his cafeteria meal, Conrad approached him with a heavy expression.

"Dom, I just got some news. You… have to stay strong."

Dominic's hand trembled. A terrible feeling washed over him, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Conrad took a deep breath and said quietly, "Your parents. They were riding a motorcycle to the city to file an appeal for you half a month ago. They got in an accident and didn't make it."

The tears spilled out of Dominic's eyes instantly. What he feared most had come true.

Something really had happened to his parents.

Seeing Dominic's state, Conrad sighed and patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Dominic sat there in a daze, feeling numb and hollow, his mind filled only with his parents' faces and voices.

Not long after Conrad left, Scarface and his group sat down across from Dominic.

Scarface casually scraped half of Dominic's food onto his own tray, then tossed a few scraps and bones from his plate back onto Dominic's.

"Kid, we've got meat today. These leftovers are on me. You're welcome."

Scarface laughed loudly with his crew.

Dominic said nothing, still lost in his grief, staring blankly ahead.

Thinking Dominic was staring at him, Scarface got angry and pointed at him. "What are you looking at? What, you mad I took your food?

"Fine. I'll give you something back."

He spat onto Dominic's tray and pointed at it. "Eat it. Clean the plate. Leave even a drop behind, and I'll hang you up all night again!"

Dominic still didn't speak.

But slowly, light returned to his eyes, or rather, a sharp, vicious gleam.

As he came back to himself, his body began to tremble, but it was unclear whether it was from rage or grief.

His right hand tightened around his fork as he stared at Scarface and the others, blood rushing to his head.

After being wrongly imprisoned and losing his parents because of it, Dominic had lost all desire to live.

In that moment, fear disappeared, replaced by a single thought: He wanted to die.

But even if he was going to die, he had to release all his pent-up anger first.

Seeing Dominic refuse to eat, Scarface grew even angrier. "Didn't you hear me? I told you to eat. Are you deaf or something?"

He lifted his tray, ready to smash it into Dominic's face.

At that exact moment, Dominic moved.

Gripping the fork tightly, he let out a roar and drove it straight into Scarface's eye.