Hands of Stone, Heart of Vengeance

“My husband told me I was a bad investment, a legacy asset he was forced to liquidate after a car crash stole his memory of our love five years ago. He replaced me with a "Muse," a supermodel whose lies were as polished as the magazine covers she graced. But when her son-the boy Adrian believed was his heir-suffered a sudden allergic reaction, she tearfully accused me of being a jealous chemist who mixed poison to harm an innocent child. My husband, the man whose empire was built on the scents I created, didn't hesitate. In a blind rage, he declared that if my hands were used for evil, they shouldn't be used at all. He ordered his security team to bring quick-drying industrial cement. "Since you can't control these hands, I will seal them forever," he commanded, his voice devoid of mercy. He then had my hands encased in stone and had me displayed in the window of our flagship store, a public spectacle for the world to condemn. As I stood there, the heavy weight crushing my fingers and my soul, I finally understood. My blind love and foolish hope had been my downfall. I had loved the wrong man, and he had utterly destroyed me. But they made one fatal mistake. They didn't know about the hidden camera I'd planted in the nursery. And they had no idea that my family controlled the very flowers that kept his empire alive.”