The Husband Who Sent Me to Prison

Chapter 4 Marriage on Ice

One night, Lucas said he would be working late.

Jenna had prepared a late-night snack and brought it to his office, only to see him tightly embracing Stella.

In that instant, Jenna felt as if she had fallen into an ice chamber. Her blood seemed to freeze in her veins.

When they noticed her, Lucas and Stella instantly released each other, panic flashing across their faces.

Stella rushed forward, trying to explain. "Jen, don't misunderstand! I was upset, and Lucas was just comforting me…"

Jenna said nothing and returned to Elmwood Apartment.

Lucas followed, entering the apartment and grabbing her hand, repeating explanations over and over. He insisted that nothing had happened between him and Stella and begged her not to overthink it.

After all these years, Jenna knew Lucas better than he knew himself.

The way his fingers unconsciously tightened when he spoke, the way he avoided her gaze, none of it escaped her eyes.

She knew. He had feelings for Stella.

That realization was like a dull knife, slowly cutting into her heart, pain ripping through her.

Yet at that moment, Jenna was blinded by the intensity of their relationship. Her mind was full of only one thought: to hold onto him.

She cut off Lucas's explanations, her voice hoarse. "Let's get married."

Lucas froze, shock flickering in his eyes, then immediately nodded. "Alright. Let's get married."

The next day, they went to the civil affairs office to register.

No sparkling rings, no staged wedding photos, and no friends or family to witness it. This hasty, messy marriage was perhaps a mistake from the very start.

That night, back at Elmwood Apartment, Jenna sat on the edge of the bed massaging her left leg.

After standing all day, the old injury throbbed sharply, spreading numbness and soreness through the entire leg.

Her leg had been ruined shortly after she entered Oakridge Correctional Facility. A group of new inmates had singled her out by name.

The facility was filled with surveillance cameras, except in the bathrooms. So, she was often cornered there, stripped, and doused with scalding water over and over until her skin blistered and swelled.

Her leg was repeatedly slammed against the wall until it broke.

At first, she tried to report it.

But after those inmates spent a few days in solitary confinement, their attacks became even more brutal and cruel.

Eventually, Jenna stopped speaking. She learned silence, learned to curl up in corners and endure everything.

Lucas didn't come to see her for several days.

One day, she went to volunteer at the animal shelter as usual and ran into Stella at the entrance.

Stella looked immaculate. She pulled a thick stack of cash from her designer handbag and flung it at Jenna's face without a hint of courtesy.

Bills scattered across the floor as Stella sneered, "Take the money and get far away. Don't ever show up in front of Lucas again!"

"Jenna, after years in prison, you've learned to play the victim for sympathy?"

Jenna raised her hand and slapped Stella across the face.

"You can't control your own husband, yet you have time to throw a tantrum at me?"

Stella froze, then trembled with rage, as if her soft spot had been struck.

"How dare you hit me!"