Prologue
Take me to the land where sinners atone...
Where the sun shines brightly and nightmares don't come.
There, your death is not the price you have to pay,
And the devil doesn't require your soul in exchange.
Take me to the land where sinners atone...
Where one is allowed to cry from despair.
There, people don't judge you by your past,
And loved ones believe you, no matter what.
Take me to the land where sinners atone...
Where love means more.
There, you can’t take it back,
And your soulmates don’t turn their backs when you burn in hell.
Take me to the land where sinners atone...
Chapter One
“Life is cruelest to those who least expect it.”
Phoenix
Phoenix
“That’s the last time we’ll make you an offer. My advice… take it. The only reason it’s even on the table is because you saved my wife’s life,” the DA says, pushing the paper in my direction as I stare at it numbly, hating this office more and more with each passing second.
The clock ticks loudly in the office, grating on my nerves with tick tock tick tock as if mocking me for taking my time when my destiny is already decided.
Reminding me that my entire life depends on the decision I’m about to make, that time is running out, but how can I sign the paper that will forever destroy me?
The DA huffs in exasperation, adjusting his glasses on his nose while giving me a stern look that reminds me nothing of the man who paced the hospital hallways while I ran several tests on his wife’s brain during my last year of psychiatric residency. I noticed a pattern. She had been diagnosed with schizophrenia for years, but it just didn’t fit with all the results until I found out the other doctors had made a mistake, and all the hallucinations she kept on talking about were caused by the tumor hidden in her brain.
My lawyer painfully nudges my side with his elbow, snapping me out of memories, and I shift my attention to him.
He is a bald, middle-aged man wearing a black suit that’s too tight and scuffed leather shoes that have seen better days. His briefcase has several holes; it’s a wonder it doesn’t fall apart.
Mr. Rick drums nervously on the table, clearly fed up with my behavior, and who could blame him? He got assigned to me by the state of New York, none of the famous lawyers wanted to work with me. As one of them told me, it would have been social and career suicide. Even my very own lawyer, who promised to stand by me through anything, refused me.
My very own lawyer being my husband.
No one wanted to protect a cold-hearted murderer.
Or so everyone thinks about me anyway.
He addresses me, his voice void of any emotion as always, although I don’t miss his upper lip curled in disgust whenever he looks at me. “Ms. Hale, this way you will have ten to fifteen years instead of life without parole. They have the best lawyers in the world; not to mention, everyone is on their side. The judge and jury won’t let you out of that courtroom a free woman. Especially considering you are not confessing. So why would you put us through that hell for nothing?”
“They” being the Kings, one of the most influential families in the world, whose net worth varies from ten to fifteen billion dollars. They’ve made it their mission to punish me as much as possible.
They think I deserve it for killing their precious daughter-in-law, the wife of Zachary King.
A day won’t go by that you won’t regret what you did. Prison is just the beginning, Phoenix.
His words echo in my ears anytime his name comes up, and his haunted, green eyes show up in my mind.
What worse can he do anyway? He already took everything I loved from me and stepped all over it before burning the foundation of my world.
I have only ashes left from the life that one night so carelessly shattered.
Clearing my throat, I speak through the soreness. “I didn’t do it. Why does no one listen to me?” My words are barely audible, but they’ve heard them nevertheless, because both exhale heavily. Yet their silence is an answer on its own, isn’t it?
That’s the reaction I always get whenever I try to defend myself, silence that might as well have been a scream, deafening me from the intensity of its hate.
Fisting my skirt in my hands, I wipe my sweaty palms on it and wonder how the material has changed in the last six months.
Most of my clothes got destroyed when Sebastian tore them all apart, shouting that he never should have believed me, then packed his belongings, leaving me alone in our luxurious penthouse.
A few days later, I got divorce papers through his lawyer; the love of my life, who had promised me the world, wanted nothing to do with me.
Puff.
Just like that, the fairytale got shattered.
And I have only one worn-out suit to wear.
“Phoenix, you have no evidence to back up your statement. They do, but I believe you.” A surprised gasp slips past my lips as I raise my eyes to the DA, and he smiles sadly. “That’s why I’m telling you to take the deal. You’re twenty-nine years old, your whole life ahead of you.”
I barely hold back the hollow laughter that threatens to escape me, because simply put… from now on, I have no life.
Zachary King took it from me.
But despite what everyone believes, and shouts in my face that I’m better off in hell for what I’ve done… I still want to live, desperately. Maybe to prove to people I don’t deserve all their accusations, even if evidence points at me.
And how foolish is that?
With trembling hands, I pick up the pen and sign the paper, the scratching sound echoing in the room and putting the final nail in my coffin.
I’m a survivor of many things, but even survivors know when to give up.
Chapter Two
“Love happens only once in a lifetime. And as such, I will destroy the one who took it away from me.”
Zachary
Zachary
Fisting the railing of the balcony tightly, I watch the beach as the sunset slowly touches the water, covering everything in overpowering beauty that humankind just can’t recreate no matter how much she or he tries.
Seagulls squawk loudly above my head, while the light breeze softly touches my cheek and reminds me once again of my unending loneliness.
“Why so serious, Mr. King?” Angelica muses while dancing in the ocean and motioning with her hands for me to join her. I shake my head, still mesmerized by her beauty, and wonder how it’s possible such a perfect woman became mine.
She laughs loudly, the sound like the richest and finest music in the world to me, and then dashes into my arms, splashing water all over us. She captures my mouth in a kiss, while her whole body plasters against me.
My once-in-a-lifetime love.
Glancing down at the glistening golden band on my finger, I caress it softly, wishing she were here with me, teasing me about how the man who vowed to never marry proposed to her on the same beach.
Angelica, my angel.
With deep sadness crushing my fucking soul comes the fury boiling my blood, demanding I wipe out everything in my way.