The Exonerated Lover's Revenge

Ten years ago, I acted in self-defense to protect my boyfriend, only to be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to a decade in prison. In the courtroom, he buried his face in his hands, weeping uncontrollably as he held me tight. "Wait for me! The day you get out, I swear I'll give you the grandest wedding anyone has ever seen!" I held onto that single promise through the ten darkest years of my life. Yet on the day of my release, the first piece of news that greeted me was that he had long since married someone else, with a son and a daughter of his own. And his wife was none other than the sister of the thug who had attacked us! "You volunteered to step in front of me back then. Now you expect me to marry you? In your dreams!" Logan stood in front of me, his words dripping with pure venom. "Besides, you're an ex-con. It’s embarrassing just being seen with you!" A decade ago, he had crossed the wrong person. A heavily built thug broke into our apartment, smashing everything in sight. The guy even pressed a knife against Logan's throat. "A hundred grand for protection. You paying or what?! Weren't you acting tough earlier? Where's all that attitude now?" My legs shook violently as I begged them to let Logan go. Instead of backing off, they pressed the blade deeper, looking at me with leering smirks and crude remarks. "Look at how much little miss cares about her boyfriend. Tell you what—spend the night with me, and we'll call it even." Hearing that, Logan's eyes turned bloodshot. A frantic, desperate brawl broke out between them. The thug ended up overpowered, scrambling out the door while screaming bloody murder for help. Afterward, Logan looked at me with overwhelming concern, his voice trembling as he spoke. "Serena, don't be scared. I'll protect you! I won't let anyone hurt you ever again!" The memories were still vivid in my mind. The man who once loved me more than his own life had now completely reneged on his word. "Honey, are you done handling things out here?" A woman stepped out from behind Logan, holding the hands of two toddlers who chimed in unison, calling him "Daddy." I stared at the woman in sheer disbelief, my hands shaking as tears spilled over my cheeks. "Logan... you married her? You have kids with her?!" He looked down, refusing to meet my eyes. Madeline. The sister of that very thug. During ten agonizing years behind bars, it was his promise of marriage that kept me holding on. Yet here he was, successful and settled down—married to the thug’s little sister. Madeline rubbed her eyes and smirked mockingly. "Well, look who it is. An old acquaintance. Honey, you really need to keep your distance from people like her. She's a convict. We don't want her bad influence rubbing off on our precious babies!" The old Logan would never have tolerated anyone speaking ill of me. But now, he stayed dead silent, tacitly agreeing with every word she said. "Logan, aren't you going to explain yourself? I waited ten whole years for you!" He looked at me with undisguised contempt and disgust. "Explain what?" "Did my wife say anything wrong?" The word "wife" shattered every last illusion I had clung to. "Babe, go wait in the car with the kids. I'll be right there." Logan showered them with tender smiles, but the moment he turned back to face me, his expression hardened with revulsion. A child's innocent voice drifted toward me. "Mommy, who is she? Is that weird lady trying to steal Daddy away...?" "Of course not, sweetie. Daddy loves us the most." "Nobody can ever take him from us!" Madeline had aged impeccably. Even after having two children, she still looked barely twenty. Meanwhile, a decade of harsh labor and prison life had weathered me into a tired, middle-aged woman. "Here's some money. Consider all our past debts settled. I'm married to Madeline now, and we have a family. We're even." He held out a black bank card in midair. I had no desire to take it."Logan, is this how you keep your promise to me?" Forget a grand wedding—he had gone and married another woman entirely. "Everything in the past was just a misunderstanding. Her brother is my brother-in-law now. We're family." "Don't come around disrupting our happy life anymore." I bit my lip so hard it bled, shaking my head in utter refusal to accept his words. I grabbed his arm, demanding answers. "Did someone threaten you?" "Is there something you're not telling me?" Those two children looked nothing like him. He shoved my hand away in disgust. Logan used so much force that I hit the pavement hard. A sickening pop echoed from my shoulder, hinting at a dislocated bone. "Have you had enough, Serena?" "Open your eyes and look! Madeline and I are genuinely in love. Back then, I was just lonely and wanted someone around. That's all it ever was!" "You were the one desperate to cling to me. You were the one who offered to take the fall and do the time. I just went along with it." "As for saying I'd marry you—I was caught up in the moment. Don't take it so seriously." "After all, everyone knows you can't trust sweet talk from a man." I stared at him in utter despair, desperately wishing I could find an excuse for his cruelty. The throbbing pain in my arm was unbearable, forcing hot tears to pool in my eyes. Logan delivered his final ultimatum. "Don't ever look for me again. I won't let you ruin my family." "This card buys out every last shred of history between us." Over a decade of devotion was reduced to a flimsy piece of plastic. Clutching my chest, I let the tears stream freely down my cheeks. Ten years ago, we were each other's entire world, huddling together for warmth inside a tiny, leaky studio apartment. Even when our protruding ribs dug into each other's chests, we never let go. We were so broke that a single meal had to be split between us. Yet Logan would always turn his head away, claiming he wasn't hungry just so I could eat a few extra bites. "Serena, you've suffered so much with me. Once I make it out there, I promise I'll make all of this up to you." Back then, his eyes were always filled with genuine guilt. Words would choke up in his throat, stopping him mid-sentence more times than I could count. I knew it was love and heartbreak for me. And now, I had indeed lived to see him become wealthy and successful. Yet all he offered me was a bank card to sever all our ties. I shoved the card into my bag. Ten years had passed, and the world outside had changed beyond recognition. Whenever I applied for a job, people looked at me like I was a freak. With a felony record, not a single company was willing to take a chance on me. Still, I sent out resumes everywhere, desperate for anything that would keep a roof over my head. Persistence finally paid off when I received an interview invitation. Without hesitation, I hailed a cab and rushed over to the company. The position was for a costumed performer at a local theme park. During the audition, the interviewers repeatedly humiliated me, ordering me to bark like a dog and crawl on the floor like a beggar. It wasn't until laughter drifted from behind the one-way glass that I realized it was all a sick setup. The owner of the company was Madeline. She had deliberately orchestrated this mockery just to degrade me! "Logan, what do you think? Our park seems to be short on hands." Logan replied in an icy tone, "Next. She has a criminal record. Hiring someone like that would reflect poorly on our brand." Upon hearing his response, Madeline cupped his face and planted a kiss right on his cheek. "That's my husband. You always think of everything!""Did you hear that? It's not that we don't want to hire you, but your qualifications are just too poor. You're putting us in a tough spot..." The moment the surrounding staff heard I had a record, their gazes turned judgmental and disgusted, whispering among themselves. "She's an ex-con... No wonder she's creeping around by herself. And look at her wearing long sleeves and pants in this scorching heat—what a total freak!" "Hey, keep it down! If she hears you, who knows what a criminal like that might do to you!" Hunching my shoulders and hanging my head low, I bolted out the door without looking back. I never imagined that the very first person to out my past to the public would be Logan. The same man who had once vowed to the entire world that he would protect me for the rest of his life. Strangers stared at me on the street as if I were a lunatic. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was the lawyer who had once represented me. "Ms. Vance, I have incredible news." My heart pounded with nervous hope as I listened, but before the joy could even settle, a crushing revelation hit me. As it turned out, that prison sentence could have been avoided entirely. It was Logan who had secretly convinced Madeline's brother not to drop the charges. That was why I had been locked away for aggravated assault. I had known it all along—the thug hadn't died; he had suffered severe bleeding, but the hospital patched him up completely. I slapped my own forehead hard, trying to shock myself into clarity. "Marcus, is that... is that really true?" "It's completely true. I uncovered the full trail. The original verdict was a massive miscarriage of justice. The state is issuing a formal exoneration along with substantial compensation. Your record is officially wiped clean." I collapsed onto the curb, sobbing uncontrollably. When my parents had heard about the incident ten years ago, they refused to see me at the courthouse, even sending a relative to deliver a formal letter disowning me. I slapped myself across the cheek again. It stung. It really hurt. This was real... It was a wrongful conviction. My name was finally cleared. My phone buzzed again, this time displaying Logan's number. I hesitated, but muscle memory took over before my brain could stop it, and I swiped to answer. "Serena, come over to my place. We need to talk." "Think of it as our final goodbye." Coincidentally, I had a few questions for him as well. I bought some toys for the two kids and headed straight to the address Logan provided. My stomach churned with anxiety the entire way. Logan had known the truth all along, yet he chose to keep me in the dark. I could have had my freedom, yet he stood by and watched me waste ten precious years of my youth behind bars. None of this was supposed to happen... Logan stood outside the doorway, chain-smoking one cigarette after another, a small mountain of butts piled at his feet. He stepped ahead of me and pushed open the front door. Madeline was sitting on the sofa, right beside her brother, Keith. "Madeline was worried you wouldn't have anywhere to turn, so she wants to introduce you to her brother." "Why don't you two give it a shot? You already have some history together." "As the saying goes, no hard feelings between old sparring partners, right?" Without a second thought, I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. "Logan, are you even human?" "Who is he? He's the monster who nearly killed you and tore our lives apart! You're literally pushing me into the lion's den!" To think I had actually trusted him enough to come here and talk things out. Logan licked the trace of blood from the corner of his lip. "Keith is my brother-in-law now. Got a problem with that?" The memories of the courtroom rushed back with brutal clarity. I couldn't erase them even if I tried. "When you were sobbing your eyes out in that courtroom, watching him point his finger at me, was this what you were planning all along?" "Do you feel even an ounce of remorse?" "Setting me up with him—are you seriously out of your mind?!"I must have been blind to ever believe a single word that came out of Logan's mouth. "Did you really think I'd keep falling for your lies?" "The truth is out. Keith offered you a lavish life and his sister's hand in marriage, all on the condition that you testify against me." "All on the condition that I took the fall for your crime!" So I became their scapegoat, paving the way for their picture-perfect romance. And in return, I was left with nothing. He grabbed my wrist abruptly, his voice tightening with panic. "Who told you that?" "Did prison drive you crazy? How dare you make up such nonsense?!" I had known Logan for far too many years. Seeing him panic like this confirmed that he had been in on it from the very beginning. It felt like the sickest joke in the world, and I let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Look at you. Getting nervous now, aren't you?!" "How did it feel, locking the woman who loved you behind bars with your own two hands?" "How does it feel, playing house with a woman you don't even love?" "Logan, did you really think you won?" "The truth is, you lost everything!" Logan brushed off my words defensively. "Serena, are you out of your mind? If you're pulling this stunt just to get my attention, save your breath. The only woman in my heart is Madeline!" "Besides, I'm a married man with a family now!" I had grossly underestimated how shameless he could be. Perhaps on the way here, a tiny, foolish part of me had still held onto a shred of hope. Yet reality slapped me back down without mercy. I shifted my bloodshot gaze toward Keith, taking slow, deliberate steps toward him. "Didn't you say I'm a criminal?" "Didn't you claim I attacked you on purpose back then?" "Claimed I caused internal bleeding and smashed your skull open?!" "Let's see how you like getting a taste of that again!" The moment the words left my mouth, I snatched a decorative brick from the display shelf and hurled it toward his head. Seeing this, Madeline instinctively lunged forward to pull me away. Using her momentum against her, I redirected the impact so the brick struck Keith again, and the instant she hesitated in shock, I threw myself onto the floor. Madeline's hands were covered in blood. She shrieked hysterically, instantly whipping out her phone to dial 911. "She's insane! She's completely lost her mind!" Logan stood to the side the entire time, frozen like an unfeeling mannequin. When the police arrived, Madeline immediately tried to dump all the blame onto me. "Officers, you have to arrest her!" "She's an ex-con! She just tried to murder my brother all over again!" Yes, I had been in prison, but that was a wrongful conviction! My name was clear now. The officer shook his head sternly. "Ma'am, calm down. Let us handle the investigation." Logan chimed in immediately, "My wife isn't lying! Everything she said is true! My brother-in-law's injuries were entirely caused by Serena!" "Is there security footage here?" The room fell silent before someone mumbled, "N-No..." Of course there wasn't. Keith and the others had planned to force themselves on me today regardless of my consent. I was a stranger in this part of town; even if I screamed my lungs out, no one would have come to my rescue. Left with no footage, they could only sputter feebly, trying to paint me as the violent aggressor. I glanced at the officers, pointing pitifully at the bruises and cuts blooming across my skin. "I'm just an ordinary woman. How could I possibly overpower them?" "Officers, I want to report Madeline and Logan for premeditated assault and attempted murder!"