Chapter 1

• "George... I didn't do it on purpose...please, George, you've to believe me."
• Alyssa was kneeling on the floor inside the villa. Her face was so pale that it was even lighter than the white porcelain bottle on the table.
• She couldn't see the expression of the man seated on the sofa clearly as the lights were not on. The only thing that she could see was the faint glow of the cigarette between his fingers before it was extinguished.
• Alyssa felt as though she was waiting for an impending doom. She couldn't help but tremble with fear as she felt extremely uneasy and unsettled.
• She looked down to see her fingers stained with the blood of Maria. Even though it'd dried up a long time ago, the evidence of the crime that she'd committed nonetheless remained on them and underneath her fingernails.
• The man on the sofa finally stood up from where he was seated after a long time. He slowly stepped towards Alyssa, his tall stature towering over her petite one as he did so.
• "Alyssa, you've got to pay the price for your wrongdoings. Maria's legs may have been saved, but she can no longer dance because of you...how can you live with yourself like this?"
• His voice was so sharp that Alyssa couldn't help but feel her heart start to pound furiously and fearfully at just how menacing he sounded.
• The only thing that she could make out in the darkness was the man weighing a golf club in his hands under the moonlight which shone through the room.
• "Didn't I say that I would marry as long as you behave yourself? Why did you have to go and stir up trouble for Maria then? Hmm?"
• As soon as the man's voice fell, he used the club to hit the Alyssa in the shin.
• He exerted so much strength that Alyssa groaned as she bent over in immense pain and agony.
• "George...I didn't..."
• The pain in her left leg was so agonizing that Alyssa feared that she could only move it slightly backward. To her horror, however, she found that she couldn't move it at all. All it could do was to hang there, lifeless and unmoving.
• The man then put the golf club away, which was now bent, as he glared at Alyssa's doubled-over form. "Alyssa, you shall pay for what you've done to Maria with this leg. I'll spare your life for now. But don't you forget. You've yet to fully pay off this debt."
• Alyssa was too traumatized to say anything in reply. So, she simply hugged her knees to her chest tightly as she trembled violently like a leaf.
• Just before Alyssa gradually fell unconscious, she heard the man making a phone call. He ordered, "Inform the Cater Family that Alyssa had attempted to kill someone intentionally. It's up to them whether they would rather protect her or protect the Cater Group."
• Alyssa smiled tiredly. She thought: I'm exhausted - am I really going to die just like that? Would everyone be happy then?
• …
• Two years later.
• City B finally experienced the first snow this winter.
• The gates of the prison in the outskirts of the East had opened early in the morning.
• A scrawny-looking woman walked out from inside. She did not walk very quickly and there was a slight limp in her steps.
• The woman raised her head when snow began to fall from the sky. If you overlooked the scars on her face, you would be able to tell just how young and demure she actually looked.
• There weren't many buses available in such weather. The usual wait of an hour was now extended to about two to three hourly intervals.
• Unfortunately for the woman, a bus had left just five minutes before she'd exited prison.
• This meant that she would have to wait by the roadside for another two or three more hours.
• As she took in her surroundings whilst touching her thin shirt, she couldn't help but furrow such that even the crescent-shaped scar at the corner of her brow was wrinkled slightly.
• It was spring when she'd entered prison. She didn't expect it to be winter when she came out.
• As she stood under the bus stop, the woman stared blankly at the prison that she'd been locked in for two years. On the whitewashed walls were eight large words: "Reflect well and turn over a new leaf."
• The woman couldn't help but mock at this.
• She'd read these words so many times during her time in prison. But would there really still be a chance for her to be the person whom she once was ever again?
• The woman continued to indulge in her own thoughts for the next two or three hours or so until the bus finally came. She rubbed her aching legs slightly before stepping onto the bus.
• The only things that she had in her possession was an old mobile phone and a few ten dollar notes that a prison guard had kindly given her. She gave the bus driver some money before going to sit somewhere in the back.
• Alyssa was the only passenger on this bus, which had been heading towards this prison. Throughout the entire ride, she had her palms pressed against the window. It was as though she couldn't get enough of what she was seeing outside.
• She couldn't believe just how much the city had changed in just two years.