After 7 Years in Jail, I Left Them

Chapter 1

After serving seven full years of my sentence, I stepped through the gates of the prison.

My husband and brother showed up to pick me up, but they didn't take me home. They drove me straight up a winding mountain road, then just stood by and let one of the family's long-lost legitimate daughter's enemies plow into our car, shattering my leg.

Seven years prior, Fiona, the family's real daughter, had been street racing in the dead of night and crippled the son of a major power player.

I took the fall for her and went to prison, where I endured every kind of torment imaginable.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

That powerful big shot still demanded a leg as payback for his son's injury.

So today, I paid that debt for her too.

Theo lifted me into his arms and said, "It's all over now. We'll take care of you for the rest of your life."

I squeezed out every last ounce of strength I had left to shove down the rage boiling in my chest.

The system had told me I'd be able to get out of this mess soon.

*****

My organs failed during the amputation surgery. I spent two weeks in the ICU, and in that time, the doctors handed down over a dozen critical condition alerts.

When I woke up, Theo was staring at my hands, covered in frostbite, twisted and gnarled from old fractures.

His eyes were red-rimmed, and a flicker of something like softness or guilt crossed his face.

"We really had no idea you suffered so much in there…"

Seven years locked up had left me broken and battered, inside and out.

My throat was dry and raw, and my voice came out flat, dead, completely devoid of emotion. "Now that you know, are you gonna get me justice?"

Theo froze.

After a long, awkward pause, he mumbled a pale, "I'm sorry."

The Wade family held absolute, overwhelming power, with deep ties across both political and business circles. They couldn't afford to cross them.

Fiona, the real daughter they'd fought so hard to bring back home? They couldn't bear to let anything happen to her.

That left only me to throw to the wolves.

No matter how many times we turned back the clock, the only option was always for me to take the fall and rot behind bars.

Even if they knew there were people in that prison specifically targeting me, singling me out for "special treatment" that made every day a living hell, they claimed there was nothing they could do.

Or rather, they didn't want to do anything.

This missing leg of mine was proof enough of that.

"Honey, from now on, I'll be your legs. I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again." Theo gritted his teeth, fighting back a sob as he made that firm, earnest promise.

I let out a scoff so quiet it was almost imperceptible. "That's easy for you to say."

He didn't get what I really meant. He just assumed I was lashing out in anger.

Once I was moved to a regular ward and well enough to sit up on my own, my so-called brother Harry finally dragged himself back from his "business trip."

Turns out his "business trip" was nothing of the sort. I'd seen fan-shot clips online already. He'd been off accompanying Fiona to film a show.

In those clips, he tied Fiona's hair for her, laced up her shoes, even carried her on his back everywhere he went.

The comment section was flooded with jealous remarks.

A: [I wish I had a super rich, drop-dead handsome, gentle, doting older brother too!]

That supposedly perfect brother used to be mine, once upon a time.

When Harry saw me watching one of Fiona's clips on my phone, he snatched it right out of my hand and snapped it shut with a sharp click.

"If you're going to blame someone, blame me. Fiona never even agreed to let you take the fall for her! She's been drowning in guilt these whole seven years. She has to swallow a handful of antidepressants just to get through every single day!

"She wanted to come see you, but she doesn't even know your leg's been amputated yet." His eyes flicked to the empty space under the covers where my leg should have been, and his voice turned rough. "She's already been through enough. I don't want to pile more guilt on her."

I stared at this stranger standing in front of me. If my leg was still whole, I would've lunged at him and slapped him right across the face.

Fiona has it hard? Are you kidding me? She has no idea what hard even is.

Fiona and Theo walked in one after the other.

Their smiles froze on their faces, like they were wearing ridiculous masks.

"Riana..." Fiona stared at the sunken spot under the hospital blanket, her face schooling into a flawless, convincing mask of shock and grief. "How could this happen..."

Harry caught her swaying body, his face soft with concern for her, but his eyes cut straight at me, hard and pressing, "It was an accident. We got into a car crash the day we picked her up from prison."

Fiona grabbed his sleeve in a panic, voice trembling. "Is it the Wade family..."

"No!" Harry cut her off immediately. "It was Riana herself... she jumped out of the car."

Three pairs of eyes bored straight into me, all pressing me to give the answer they wanted to hear.

Fiona's fake "guilt" hurt worse than seven years in that hellhole of a prison and my lost leg combined.

I huffed a sharp, mocking laugh.

The next second, a brutal jolt of phantom limb pain slammed into me, followed by a sharp, twisting stomach cramp that stole my voice entirely.

"Riana, say something." Harry's voice was sharp with impatient urgency.

Theo walked around to the other side of the hospital bed and took my hand. "Riana, are you having another..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Fiona swayed suddenly and passed out cold.

Harry scrambled to haul her into his arms and bolted out of the room without so much as a backward glance.

Theo snapped his head around, his expression went ice-cold in the blink of an eye.

"Is it really that hard to just nod and say yes? Your brother and I already told you we'll do everything we can to make this up to you. Why do you have to make things so hard for Fiona?

"Do you really need her to carry this guilt towards you for the rest of her life just to feel satisfied? You were the one who nodded and agreed to cover for Fiona all those years ago, and you stepped out of that car of your own free will that day. What the hell are you making such a big fuss about now?"