Chapter 1

1 When I saw my adopted daughter being dragged into the alley by those thugs, I just kept walking.

That’s because last time, when I’d jumped in to protect her, I ended up brutally beaten, with injuries that messed me up for life, and a face that was ruined.

I lost the three-month-old baby I was carrying.

And get this ― she immediately started spreading rumors about how I was a slut!

All to get her hands on the business empire I'd spent years building.

She even rigged a "gas leak" at home, a perfect accident.

As I was gasping my last breath, she had the nerve to snarl, "Here's a secret: your hubby and I have been hooking up for ages! Now all your money is ours!"

This time around, I'm choosing to stay out of it.

...

I woke up with a jolt, back before that whole disaster destroyed my life.

I was leaving a meeting, rushing to pick up my darling daughter, Ashley.

A simple left turn would lead right to that alley.

Sure enough, there they were: a bunch of guys with neon hair yanking on a girl - Ashley.

She was screaming, fighting, shaking like a leaf.

People passing by didn't want any trouble. These punks were known around here, low-level thugs who worked for some local crime boss, and this neighborhood was a dump. This kind of thing was practically normal.

Last time, I'd seen this and lost my head, charging in to rescue Ashley.

"Who the hell are you? Butt out!" one of them yelled.

"I'm her mother. You better leave her alone, now, or I'm calling the cops."

Ashley flipped out, more than the thugs did, begging me not to call the police.

The guys looked me up and down, smirking. "Wow, didn't know this was her Mom, she's hot."

Then, bam, I got shoved hard. "She's only, like, 17 years older than me, and she looks great, now leave me alone!" Ashley screamed, turning around and running away.

I stumbled, falling on the sidewalk at the alley entrance. Ashley's words rung in my ears as I was dragged into the alley. There were nine of them, I counted them all, and I remember them clearly.

They did things that nearly killed me.

By the time I got to the hospital, my insides were trashed. I lost a kidney, my intestines were ruptured, and I needed a hysterectomy from blood loss.

And my baby, barely three months along, was gone.

After 26 hours of surgery, the doctor told me I was so damaged, I'd never have kids.

I couldn't even, you know, go to the bathroom normally. I'd need a colostomy bag for life.

It was a total nightmare.

But the worst part was my husband blaming me for killing his baby, saying I was disgusting.

And the adopted daughter I'd risked my life for? Instead of calling the cops, she posted some video trashing me:

"Mom got knocked up and went out partying, killed my baby brother, should I forgive her?"

The internet went crazy. Everyone told me to die.

They called me a slut, a whore, said I was so desperate for male attention.

The nastiest labels you can imagine got slapped on me.

I lawyered up, ready to fight. I wanted to put those thugs behind bars, but my adopted daughter and my husband showed up to lie for them.

"My mom was seeing some bartender then. She didn't even come to pick up Ashley that day."

"I was the one who picked up Ashley," my husband said.

I couldn't believe they were saying this to my face.

I actually threw up blood from the shock.

The crime boss pulled strings to make all the evidence disappear, and I lost the case miserably.

My lawyer, a friend for years, was furious.

Then came another wave of online hate, even worse than before.

"You killed your kid. With a skank mom like that, they're better off dead."

"Such a tramp, trying to play innocent. Good thing the law doesn't let anyone off the hook."

"Why are you still alive?"

"Blaming your own daughter? You have to know that will mess her up!"

"You don't deserve to be a mom, or even to live."

I fell into a deep depression.

Just when I was planning to divorce him and cut Ashley out of my life, she and my husband, Mark, messed with the gas alarm, shut all the windows and doors, locked the deadbolt, and loosened the gas line.

Because I'd lost my sense of smell, I didn't notice a thing.

The second I flipped the light switch, a huge explosion blew me across the room.

I was burned everywhere, and my insides were all messed up from the blast.

With my last breath, Ashley sneered, "Here's a secret: your hubby and I have been hooking up for ages! Now all your money is ours!"

And that was it. I died right there.