What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger novel Chapter 1

The police crashed my wedding day. I—Ellie Harrison, the celebrated artist, the prodigy everyone raved about—hauled away in handcuffs while still in my wedding dress.

The charge? Forgery and fraud.

Before I'd even been formally charged, my fiancé had already replaced me with his first love, Laria.

Three years in prison. That was my sentence.

My father, already battling late-stage cancer, died heartbroken from the shock. And my mother suffered a mental breakdown.

When I finally walked out of prison, I was nothing but a hollow shell.

That's when Hektor appeared—Laria's stepbrother, all soft eyes and gentle hands.

"I've waited ten years to tell you how I feel, Yunifer," he whispered, reaching for my scarred hands. "Let me be the one who takes care of you now."

But one year into our marriage, I discovered a conversation on the car's dashcam between him and his friend Nate.

"Do you ever regret creating those forgeries, having someone report Yunifer,destroying evidence that would've cleared her name?"

"Not a second. Laria and I could never be together. This was my gift to her—removing her competition so she could build her career and marry into the Davidson family."

"Jesus, Hektor. But all of that was meant for Yunifer. Your actions destroyed her family..."

Hektor's voice turned hoarse: "Stop. For Laria, I could even kill."

...

"As for Yunifer... I married her, didn't I? I'll make it up to her for the rest of my lives."

"If you're so dedicated to making amends," his friend—Nate—challenged, "why not clear her name? Laria's already married."

"Since her release, she's afraid of showing up. They whisper 'murderer,' call her the greedy bitch who killed her father and drove her mother insane for money."

"She lost a kidney from a beating in prison, for God's sake. Between the physical trauma and everything else, she's severely depressed."

"Clearing her name would help her heal, Hektor."

"Absolutely not," Hektor snapped, his voice hardening.

"Four years ago, Yunifer was unstoppable—the darling of every gallery, critics falling at her feet. If she clears her name now, she'll reclaim her spotlight and Laria will be permanently relegated to her shadow."