Secret Admiration: Finding True Love After Prison

Chapter 1 Be Released

"Meryl, get yourself a job and be a good person out there." the prison guard said as he opened the gate.

Meryl Stone nodded absently. Finally. She never thought she'd survive those three brutal years.

Rain drizzled from the gray sky as she stepped out of the prison. The biting wind made her shiver and she hugged herself for warmth. Suddenly, a sleek Porsche Cayenne pulled up beside her.

Seeing the license plate made her face drain of color.

The window rolled down, revealing a man's cold, emotionless face- Dalton Aniston, the man she had loved for seven years, her fiancé.

The same man who had made sure she ended up in prison!

"Why are you limping?" He asked, his voice icy.

Meryl's eyes stung with unshed tears. Didn't he know why she was limping? From her first day in prison, she had been beaten by the other inmates. They said Dalton had paid them to make her suffer.

"Get in," Dalton commanded, his arm resting casually on the window frame. His custom suit highlighted his tall, imposing frame, and he radiated a cold, aristocratic aloofness.

Meryl recognized the impatience in his voice, just like that of her parents'.

the Stone family. Her parents felt bad at first and wanted to make up for lost time. But Lydia, who they'd raised for 14 years, messed things up. She got them to push

real kid, but she's been with us forever. She's our daughter! We brought you back and gave

you do this to Lydia? She's got class. You're nothing

explain. Just sent her

believed her.

on her, declaring

frozen in place, he snapped, "Get

around her ankle. It looked like it had been slashed with a sharp

away

approached her.

Elias reached out to

Meryl crouched down, covering her head, her voice breaking. "No, please don't hit

first. She used to be so vibrant and full of life, known for her beauty. Now, the light in her eyes was gone, replaced by fear and dread. Three years in prison had turned her into a shadow of her former

but his

in prison, and you still haven't

got up and slid into the car, carefully

but she huddled in a corner, still shivering from the rain and

bump, causing Meryl