chapter 1

My husband snapped my arm, crushed my leg, and threw me into a freezer bin like I was nothing but garbage.

All because his beloved Camille Thorne got stuck in the walk-in freezer for two hours, and I happened to be the one who locked the door without realizing she was inside.

Holding her in his arms, he looked at her with pity and told her he had finally avenged her.

He didn’t know that I, along with the baby inside me, had already died in that freezer bin.

He waited, thinking I was just faking it, expecting me to crawl out and apologize to Camille.

But when nothing happened, he finally realized Camille had set the whole thing up. She had walked into that walk-in freezer herself.

That was when he lost it and opened the freezer bin…

—

My husband's first love, Camille, had wandered into the walk-in freezer at our house without telling anyone. I didn’t notice and casually locked it. She was stuck in there for more than an hour.

Colton Blackwood, my husband, thought I did it on purpose. He believed I wanted to kill her.

So to get revenge, he dragged me to an industrial seafood freezer bin.

I curled up on the ground, begging him to let me go.

But his voice was ice-cold.

“Take your punishment. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before doing something so cruel.”

He held my head down with both hands, forcing it hard against the inside of the freezer bin.

The surface scraped my skin so roughly my face was twisted out of shape. The sharp stench of blood filled the air, and I couldn’t even tell if the sticky mess on my cheeks was blood or tears.

Once I was fully shoved inside, he poured a pile of ice over me.

Then he slammed the lid shut and locked it.

I screamed in pure desperation, clawing to get out, but only blood seeped through the cracks. It spread across the floor in chaotic smears, like a twisted field of poppies.

A week later, he finally decided to be “merciful.”

But by then, my body had already started to rot inside that freezer bin.

—

“Why hasn’t that bitch shown up lately? Looks like she finally learned her lesson.

“If she tries anything again, we’ll just do the same thing.

“It really worked. She’s been totally quiet.”

One of his guys, Jared Knox, mumbled, “Mr. Blackwood, I think... I think Mrs. Blackwood’s still in the freezer bin.

“You might want to check. Just in case something actually happened...”

Colton’s eyelid twitched. He rubbed it with his fingers.

“Let her stew in there a few more days. At least I get some peace and quiet.”

Jared hesitated, then forced it out, “Mr. Blackwood, seriously... the smell coming from that thing is like something rotting in a horror movie.”

Colton lifted his eyes slightly and said calmly, “Smells bad? Good.

“She was disgusting anyway. Probably pissed and shit herself in there.”

Jared tried to speak again, but Colton cut him off.

His expression turned hard and cold.

“That’s enough. Go haul the seafood. I’m sure she got the message. I’ll check on her tomorrow.

“She better come out, apologize to Camille, and write a ten-page apology letter. Then maybe I’ll let her go.”

Just as he finished, the door creaked open and a furry head peeked in.