บททั้งหมดของ Imprisoned for Love, Returning for Nothing: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

As I walked out of the prison gates, a guard called after me. "You earned an early release for good behavior. Go home and be with your family, and don't come back."Then, he held out his hand and said, "You've got another shot at life. Make it count."I shook it and stepped into the outside world.Jessica Wright stood outside the prison gates with our daughter, Penny Joyner, holding her hand. Neither of them looked happy to see me.Jessica glanced at her watch, clearly impatient. "I don't know why they had to release you today. You ruined the holiday."Penny looked up at me with innocent eyes. "Dad, you're nothing but trouble."I stood there in the same worn-out clothes I had worn before going to prison.For a brief moment, I actually wanted to go back inside.But I hadn't seen my grandmother, Martha Penn, in three years. I needed to see her before I could feel at ease."Now that you're out, let's not bring up the past." Jessica glanced at me, her eyes filled with disdain for

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 pr

Penny's words knocked the wind entirely out of my lungs. I lunged forward, grabbing Jessica by the collar with wild eyes. "Jessica, where is Grandma?"My sudden violence terrified her, and she stumbled over her words. "J-Jake, don't do anything stupid!"Caleb rushed over, aggressively tearing Jessica away from my grip and pulling her into his arms. "We didn't tell you about Martha because we knew you couldn't handle it."You're the one who got yourself thrown in prison. Someone must have tipped her off about your sentence, and she got into a fatal car accident while desperately trying to track you down."There was an unmistakable tone of smug satisfaction in Caleb's voice. He was thoroughly enjoying watching me unravel. I was furious, entirely unhinged, and behaving like a madman. Naturally, no one cared about my perspective, let alone believed a word I said. The Wrights' relatives immediately swarmed in with their own toxic judgments. "I honestly have no idea what Jessic

"If Penny's friends find out her real father is a criminal, she could get bullied," Jessica said."So?" I replied. I had no idea what she was trying to get at."What I'm trying to say is you still need to keep the truth about taking the fall for Caleb a secret," she said.I barked out a harsh laugh.Jessica was supposed to be my wife. Yet, she brought Penny to see me on Christmas Day only to ask me to carry someone else's crime for the rest of my life."Jessica, I'm not agreeing to that," I said. "Now that Grandma is gone, what else do you have left to threaten me with?"I looked at the Christmas wreath on the front door and thought of all the Christmases I had spent with Grandma.She used to craft the wreath herself, smiling warmly as she watched me reach up to hang it. Eventually, I didn't have to stand on tiptoes anymore, but Grandma's back grew more and more stooped with each passing year.Jessica followed my gaze toward the door and scoffed quietly. "Don't you want to kn

Caleb kept stomping on the phone until he was sure it wouldn't turn on again. He glared at me with pure venom. "Jake, you're already out of prison. Are you really trying to destroy Jessie's and Penny's lives now?"He was so consumed by rage that he completely lost control and blurted out the truth without thinking. "Yes, I ran over someone! So what? I only had a little to drink, and the guy just happened to be in my way. He deserved to die!"Jake, if you want someone to blame, blame yourself for being unlucky. No one cares about you, and no one loves you!""Caleb, stop talking!" Jessica rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth. Then she turned to look at me, her expression dripping with cold disappointment. "Jake, I never thought you would become a monster like this."She completely ignored Penny's shrill crying and her parents standing frozen in shock nearby. Without another word, Jessica walked into the back room and brought out a plain ceramic jar. She meticulously wi