Hudson coaxed his daughter out of the visitation room, then turned back to me, his face dark as thunder. He slapped a stack of photographs down in front of me.

"Thelma, I really underestimated you."

"Are you that desperate? Even in prison you have to paint yourself up. How many men are you planning to find to satisfy yourself?"

"The privileges I arranged for you weren't so you could make a fool out of me!"

My mind went blank for a split second, and then I was shaking my head frantically. "No, I didn't! I would never!"

Hudson snatched the photos back up and pressed them against the glass in front of my face. "Then how do you explain these?"

"Thelma, you've really outdone yourself!"

I clenched my fists, looked over in a panic, and realized they were doctored photos.

Me, tangled up with several different men.

Legs intertwined. Lips pressed together. Explicit. Graphic.

Almost instantly, nausea surged from the pit of my stomach.

I dry-heaved, but no words came. I didn't know how to explain.

"I... I didn't..."

The wounds on my body began throbbing again.

I pressed myself against the glass partition, desperate for Hudson to believe me.

But in the end, the man left me with only two sentences.

"I'm never bringing the children to see you again."

"I'm afraid that with your blood running through their veins, they'll turn out just as worthless as you."

No. That wasn't how it was.

I screamed Hudson's name, trying to explain, begging him to tell Colton and Willa.

Their mother wasn't a bad woman.

My palm touched the glass, and I jolted awake.

Everything was different now. Everything had changed.

The Farley family would never allow their heir to have a wife with a tarnished reputation, nor would they allow Colton and Willa to have a mother who'd been to prison.

Back in my cell, the same familiar torment awaited me.

This time, I didn't fight it. I even found a kind of illusion in the pain—proof that I was still alive.

One more day. One more day and I could leave.

On the third day, I was called to the visiting room again.

My footsteps dragged through the corridor, heavy as lead.

Hadn't Hudson said he wouldn't come to see me anymore?

Why had he changed his mind?

As I rounded the corner, a shrill female voice cut through the air.

"Hudson, you've been running to this prison every single day. What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

My whole body went rigid. It was Aria.