Chapter 1

The day I was released from prison, I was wearing old clothes that had been washed so many times they had lost their color. I was so thin that I was little more than skin and bones. I looked nothing like the bright, handsome Carter Quince I had been five years ago.

Riley West was waiting outside in her car.

“Carter, you’re finally out.”

I looked up, revealing a face that wasn’t mine, covered in scars. There was even the word "trash" carved into it.

On my first day in prison, the other inmates heard that "I" had killed a child in a hit-and-run and fled the scene. So, they pinned me to the ground and branded that mark of shame onto my face. From that day on, beatings became part of my daily life.

Riley froze for a moment. A trace of guilt flashed in her eyes before it disappeared.

Just then, Leo Ferdinand leaned out from the passenger seat. His face had been altered, and he no longer looked quite like he used to. Then again, with Riley being one of the most renowned plastic surgeons in the country, changing someone's face was effortless for her.

“Carter, Riley and I are here to pick you up. Even though you've spent five years in prison, and you look like this now, we'll never look down on you.”

Every word got on my nerves, but I endured it. All I wanted was to see my son and then take him far away from this place.

I opened the car door and got into the back seat.

Riley quickly explained, “Leo gets carsick. He's gotten used to sitting in the front over the past few years, so you–”

“Just drive. I want to see my son.” I cut her off.

I didn't have the energy to play along with them. Besides, I had surrendered everything I had to Leo five years ago. What was a passenger seat compared to that?

Yet, Riley suddenly went silent. Before I could think much of it, Leo's expression darkened.

“Carter, do you still blame me for what happened? I've also been punished all these years.”

He sounded like he was choking back tears.

“Riley has practically kept me under house arrest. After we started living together, she wouldn't let me go out alone because she said it wasn't safe outside. She bought everything I needed and brought it home herself. She wouldn't even let me get involved with the cosmetic surgery clinic, so she gives me the shares and dividends instead. She says my skills aren’t good enough. She’s spoiled me so much that I can barely do anything for myself now.”

Each word felt like a needle piercing my heart.

Back then, I had told Riley that I hated how Leo constantly hovered around her without any sense of boundaries.

She had promised me then. “Carter, I'll keep my distance from him. If you don't like him, I won't let him anywhere near our house.”

Yet now, he had moved right in.

As for the cosmetic surgery clinic, I was the one who built it from the ground up. I worked day and night and developed a severe stomach ulcer from drinking at business dinners to secure the investments that made it possible.

Back then, Riley had held my hand and said, “Carter, once the clinic is successful, everything will be in your name.”

Yet now, the person enjoying all of it was the man who had destroyed my life.

Riley's expression turned anxious. She lowered her voice and said to Leo, “Leo, that's enough.”

Then, she looked at me probingly. “Carter, let's go home.”

I said nothing. Instead, I turned away, and it took everything in me to unclench my fists.

I thought that once I saw my son, things would finally get better. What I didn't know was that this was just the start.