She Went to Prison They Went to Pieces novel Chapter 1

"Be a decent person. Don't repeat the same mistake." The guard's final words echoed in Celeste Morin's mind as she stepped out of the prison that had consumed three years of her life.

The sunlight hit her skin, warm but unfamiliar.

A short distance away, a sleek Maybach idled. From it, two figures approached—one tall, one short.

"Celeste, I've come to take you home."

Celeste looked up, and her gaze settled on the pair. It was her husband, Damien Wrenford, and her son, Lucian Wrenford.

When their eyes met, Damien froze. Was this really Celeste? Three years apart had transformed her.

She was thinner—almost skeletal. The vibrant, confident woman he once knew now stood before him—frail, hollow-eyed, and visibly broken.

But why? He had made sure she'd be treated well inside. Was this all an act?

Memories from three years ago flooded his mind, and his expression hardened. Even if this was real, she had brought it on herself.

His voice was cold and detached. "Get in the car. You've spent three years in there. That should've taught you something. Don't make the same mistakes again."

Lucian was taken aback too. He remembered Celeste differently. She was gorgeous and elegant. Her smile used to light up any room.

But now… he could barely recognize her.

After a beat, Lucian snapped out of his daze and said coldly, "Dad's right. Lucy is kind. She forgave you. But Mom, if you ever hurt her again, Dad and I will never forgive you."

"Forgive me?" Celeste's face was a mask of numbness. She stared at them in silence for what felt like an eternity, then a bitter, hollow laugh escaped her lips.

"The man who threw his wife into prison, and the son who helped him—do you really think you have the right to talk about forgiveness?"

These two—the husband and son she had once loved more than life itself—had been the very ones to condemn her to prison three years ago.

Damien had once saved her life. That was why she'd been so determined to marry him.

Back then, the Wrenford family wasn't nearly as powerful as the Morins. She brought wedding gifts, her family's influence, and even went against her mother, Judy Beckham, to marry beneath her status.

After the wedding, she gave up everything for the Wrenford family. Though she was gifted in traditional medicine, she set it aside, devoting herself to cooking, cleaning, and gradually fading into the role of an overlooked, exhausted housewife.

She had believed, in time, she'd earn their respect. But Damien remained distant and indifferent.

Even Lucian, her own son, barely cared. He would say things like, "Mom, you don't even have a job—you have no right to tell me what to do."

She had convinced herself that they were just naturally aloof and emotionally distant. That was, until Damien's first love, Lucy Vale, returned.

In front of Lucy, Damien was a different man—gone was the cold, aloof elegance. He smiled, and for the first time, Celeste saw the softness in his eyes—the gentleness she had never received.

That was when she realized—Damien could smile like that. Just never at her.

Even on their anniversary, when Celeste collapsed from complications related to childbirth, he ignored her desperate calls. Instead, he stayed at Lucy's birthday party.

She barely survived the surgery, receiving multiple critical condition notices. But neither Damien nor Lucian came to see her.

When she was finally discharged and came home, all that awaited her was a messy house, an ungrateful son, and a husband who didn't care.

Lucian had even sneered. "You're not a good mom. You were gone for so long, and you didn't even clean! You'll never be as great as Lucy!"

Clean? She'd been on the brink of death.

And yet, she'd still tried to understand. Kids could say cruel things. As for Damien, he'd always been cold. Maybe, in time, things would change. So she endured.