Chapter 3

I looked up at Jessica's angry expression and Caleb, who was barely hiding a smug smile.

"I'll say it again. I didn't push him," I said.

With that, I turned toward the door. The home Jessica and I had once built together already had another man occupying it.

"Jake, stop right there!" Jessica shouted.

I ignored her and kept walking.

"Don't you want to know where Martha is?" she asked.

The moment I heard Grandma's name, I clenched my fists and stopped dead in my tracks.

She had always been my only weakness.

I turned back around. "What do you want from me, Jessica? I spent three years in prison taking the fall for Caleb. Isn't that enough? How much more do you intend to put me through?"

Thinking back on those dark days behind bars, I had lost count of how many times I wished I had never met Jessica. If I had never fallen in love with her, I never would have suffered like this.

"Jake, what are you talking about?" Jessica asked defensively. "I spent a fortune making sure the prison staff took care of you. They told me you were doing better in there than you would have been out here."

A cold silence was my only response to that absurd claim.

Instead, I looked her straight in the eye. "What do I have to do before you tell me where Grandma is?"

Jessica opened her mouth to reply, but Caleb cut her off. "Jessie, this is all my fault. I told Jake I took care of you and Penny while he was away, so he needn't have worried. I never thought he would take it as an insult. It's all my fault!"

Right on cue, Caleb raised a hand toward his own face, mimicking a self-inflicted slap.

"If Jake says he has suffered so much, then let me make it up to him!"

"Caleb!" Jessica grabbed his wrist and glared daggers at me. "Jake! Caleb took care of us for three years. Instead of thanking him, you attacked him?

"I want you to beg for his forgiveness. Otherwise, you won't find out a single thing about Martha."

Wasn't it just a matter of swallowing my pride? I could do that.

I dropped to my knees on the floor without a moment's hesitation.

After three years in prison, I had long forgotten what dignity even meant. Pride couldn't buy food or grant a safe night's sleep.

If this wasn't enough, I would gladly beg Caleb on my hands and knees.

In prison, debasing myself could earn me a stale piece of bread. At the very least, it kept me from starving.

A flicker of sympathy crossed Jessica's eyes when she saw me like this. She let go of Caleb and hurried over to help me up.

"Jake, I didn't mean it like that, but you really went too far."

When her hand brushed against my arm, I gasped in pain.

"What's wrong?" Jessica quickly pulled her hand back, looking startled.

I didn't explain that my arm was still recovering from a severe fracture. I just kept pressing her for news about Grandma.

This time, I caught the way she deliberately avoided my gaze.

"Jessica, what happened to Grandma?" I demanded.

"Jake, Martha is—"

Bertha suddenly cut her off. "Jessica, everything's ready! Hurry up! I can't believe we're dealing with this on a holiday."

She marched out holding a set of clean clothes and a basin of toiletries, shoving them toward me with a look of utter revulsion.

"Take a shower and change. Get rid of that prison stench," Bertha scoffed. "From now on, try to act like a decent human being. Stop dragging Jessica and Penny down with you."

My mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of Grandma, and three years in prison had conditioned me to obey commands without fighting back. I reached out and mechanically took the clothes and toiletries.

Before I even registered the movement, Caleb slipped up behind me and violently shoved me forward.

I didn't see it coming.

I stumbled heavily, pitching straight toward the edge of the stone fireplace.

At the very last second, instinct kicked in. I threw my hands out to catch my fall, narrowly saving my face from a brutal impact.

When I scrambled back up, Penny looked genuinely shaken.