ManyWriters

I sold my body to my husband, Cade Sterling.
One hundred thousand dollars. That was his price for a night with me. The only thing keeping our son, Leo, alive.
My stepmother whispered lies in his ear, and he believed them. He forced another woman into our bed while I was forced onto an operating table.
"You're pregnant," the nurse said, her voice a sterile blade. "Mr. Sterling has requested a termination."
Then, I was forced to watch my son Leo, my only reason for living, leap from a cliff to save me from further torment.
He was gone.
My husband had murdered our first child, and now our second. There was nothing left to live for.
In the cold, scarlet water of the bathtub, I finally let go.
But as darkness claimed me, I didn't know the truth was a far more cruel and twisted thing than I could have ever imagined.
And that Cade Sterling, my tormentor, was about to pay a price far greater than money could ever cover.

His Ruinous Price

"It means her life for the past five years has been a living hell, sir."


Logan’s gaze drifted past Cade to the still figure of Aria on the hospital bed.


He remembered her as a girl, a vibrant and talented artist with a bright, infectious optimism, a product of a privileged, happy upbringing. He couldn't begin to fathom how she had survived what he had uncovered.


The details of his findings were a bitter pill, but he knew Cade had to swallow it. Though it would be excruciating, the truth had to be brought to light.


"The other inmates were given incentives to make Ms. Montgomery's life difficult. She was tortured on a near-daily basis, sometimes with the guards' involvement. She was constantly injured. In the most severe incident, they broke four of her ribs and permanently destroyed the nerves in her right hand."


Another, even more horrifying detail surfaced in his mind. "But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was when she gave birth."


Logan shot a cautious look at Cade, noticing the man's clenched fists and the pale, trembling set of his jaw. He hesitated, then continued, his voice low.


"The delivery was performed inside the prison. The C-section was carried out by the prison guards themselves."


Cade listened, his eyes wide with a growing horror as the atrocities were laid bare. The woman he loved had suffered more than he could have ever imagined.


He'd heard whispers of such things, the casual brutality of the prison system. She must have been in agony.


If the guards had performed the surgery, it would have been a crude, unanesthetized procedure. They had been paid to torture her, after all.


Without proper medical equipment or professional skill, the delivery must have been a living nightmare.


A profound, suffocating sadness settled over him, so heavy it felt like a physical weight on his chest, making it hard to breathe.


He had held her in contempt, unable to forgive her for abandoning him in his darkest hour. But he now realized her life had been a far deeper, more terrifying hell than his own.


She had endured it all alone, suffering unjust, inhumane punishments. And he had never been there for her. Not once.


Her torment didn't end with her release. She had escaped one prison only to be thrown into another, one of his own making. He had never ceased his mental and physical humiliation of her. It must have been an unbearable existence.


He had sworn to make her life a misery, never realizing it was already so wretched it couldn't possibly get any worse. After years of being tormented in an abyss of despair, she had finally chosen to end her own life.


Logan's voice continued, pulling him back to the grim reality.


"Ms. Montgomery lost a significant amount of blood during the birth. She almost died. The guards, fearing she would die on their watch, finally took her to a hospital after the baby was born."


"I spoke with an inmate who shared a cell with her. She told me she will never forget the sound of Ms. Montgomery's screams that night. She said it was the most tragic, blood-curdling sound she had ever heard," Logan reported cautiously, his eyes on Cade's bloodshot gaze.


"Ms. Montgomery was only in the hospital for a single day before being sent back. That was the only day she wasn't subjected to brutal treatment. After that, her suffering only intensified. During one beating, she took a severe blow to the head while shielding the baby. It resulted in permanent hearing loss. Ms. Montgomery is deaf in her right ear."


Chapter 14