Betrayed Princess: Reborn in Vengeance

NORMANI

The gates of Santiam Prison creaked open, and a blast of cool air rushed against my face. My first breath of freedom after spending a year inside those lifeless gray walls.

Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty-five days behind bars not for something I did, but for the man I loved. And I didn’t regret it.

At first, I thought I would only spend one week there or maybe less. My father was powerful, untouchable. He could have snapped his fingers and pulled me out at any moment. But instead, he left me there.

He extended my stay to punish me for marrying George. To make me regret loving the one man who didn’t come from wealth or power like me.

My father never believed in love. He spat at the idea of it. To him, George was beneath me.

“Normani!” Estella’s voice pierced my thoughts. I turned just in time to see her jump out of her car and run toward me. Her arms wrapped tightly around me, as if she was trying to hold my broken pieces together.

She smelled of her usual lavender perfume, the same bottle that cost twice George’s salary. She smelled like home, and that made me miss it just a little.

“Oh my goodness, you look so lean,” she gasped, cupping my cheeks.

“Well,”

I shrugged, forcing a smile, “I needed to lose fat, dealing friend.”

“Don’t joke about this, Mani.” She frowned, brushing her short hair to the side.

She looked gorgeous in her tiny strap Celine dress, a casual outfit worth thousands.

“You took blame for something you didn’t do. What were you even thinking?” I slid into the passenger seat and ran a hand through my long, dry hair. It had lost its shine, just like my skin, my energy, everything. Prison does that. Even though my father’s influence had kept me secluded, it was nothing like home.

“I thought Dad would help,” I murmured.

“George had no one. I figured… since I’m his daughter, he’d at least try to save me, that's why I agreed to go to jail instead of George.” Estella scoffed as she pulled onto the road, driving like the maniac she always was on the road.

“Well, he didn’t let you rot there for five years. A year was just enough for his ego. Honestly, I’m starting to understand why he hated George. That man dragged you into this whole mess.”

“He didn’t drag me, Stella,” I said quietly.

“George was framed. His boss wanted him, and when he refused her, she set him up.”

“Even if that’s true, a real man wouldn’t let his wife take the fall. He should have protected you, Mani. He didn’t even know if you had the connections to free yourself. He was willing to let you spend five years in prison. You gave up everything for him.” Estella said.

I didn’t respond to her. What was the point? Estella had made up her mind not to accept George as my father. But I loved George. And I knew that he loved me too. That is what matters most.

When we finally pulled up in front of the little house George and I shared, I called it “little” because it was nothing compared to the mansion where I used to live. Then I get out of the car.

“Are you not going to invite me in?” Estella asked, looking around the house with disgust. I knew the look she had on her face. This was the reason I could never introduce her to George. Estella dripped with money.

“You don’t have somewhere else to be?” I raised a brow. I knew she was the party type.

She grinned. “True. The Monaco Grand Prix God, I’m late!” She exclaimed, tapping at her phone with well-manicured fingers. Without saying goodbye, she drove off.

I smiled faintly to myself before bracing for what was ahead. My heart pounded as I walked up to the house. I had missed George so much. Missed his voice, his arms, the way he looked at me like I was the only woman in the world. I needed that again. I needed him.

He didn’t know I was being released today. I wanted to surprise him. But the moment I stepped inside, I froze. George’s mother, Esther, was lounging on the couch in a tank top and shorts.

She rarely visited, but when she did, she made it clear she despised me. Her sharp eyes pinned me instantly, her hatred still intact even after a year.

“What are you doing here?” she sneered, like I was an insect crawling back from the drain. I didn’t answer. Bowing my head slightly, I started toward the stairs that led to George’s and my room.

I wasn’t in the mood for her venom.

“Normani! You can’t go in there, George is busy!” She called after me. I didn’t care. My legs carried me quickly down the hallway.

The door to our room was slightly open, and my heart raced in anticipation. But when I pushed it wider, my heart stopped.

George was on his knees. On his knees. Proposing. To another woman.

My stomach dropped. My vision blurred not from tears, but from disbelief. And the woman he was proposing to wasn’t just anyone. It was Becky. His boss. The same woman who had “framed” him.

“All my life,” he said, gazing up at her like she was his sun, “I’ve only wanted you. Will you marry me?”

What about me?

Becky giggled and held out her hand.

“Yes.” she said

He slipped a shimmering diamond ring onto her finger. Just like that, my heart cracked open.

Everything blurred like a nightmare which I hope it's true even if it means I would be back inside the prison.

A soft gasp escaped me. It was enough to make them both turn. George blinked, stunned to see me but not regretful. Not even sorry.

“What are you doing here?” he asked flatly.

“You were supposed to still be in prison.”

“I… I was released,” I whispered, my voice foreign to my own ears. Pathetic.

“What is going on, George? Why did you propose to her?”

He rose slowly, as if this were nothing.

“I proposed to the woman I love the most. Is there a problem?”

"The woman you love the most? No… no, I’m the woman you love,” I stammered, my voice trembling. My whole body shook.

“We shared everything: our lives, our bed. You promised me. I even went to prison for you, and you promised me! This pathetic woman framed you, and now you’re proposing to her? Were you brainwashed?”

Becky laughed at a cruel, condescending sound that made my skin crawl. She curled her fingers possessively around George’s arm, her brunette hair gleaming too perfectly for her smug little head.

“You poor thing,” she mocked. “You actually believed he was framed?” My eyes widened. “It was all a trap,” she smirked.

“A performance. We wanted you gone, and you made it so easy. Desperate to save him like a good little fool.”

“No.” My knees weakened. I struggled to breathe.

“This isn’t real. Tell me this isn’t real.” George didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped closer and handed me a folded paper. His face showed no regret, just irritation, as if I were an inconvenience. An inconvenience.

I looked down, and my vision blurred with angry, hot tears as I see the content of the paper.

A divorce paper. His signature is already there.

“Let’s divorce,” he said coldly.

“Sign it and leave.”

Just like that. His words cut deeper than any blade.

NORMANI

Sunlight poured into the living room through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I watched the garden Estella kept different species of birds there and their steady chirping was strangely soothing.

I stared at them for what felt like an eternity, bitterness pooling in my chest as memories dug sharp and deep. George didn’t know my family or my background because I had never told him.

My father had warned me to keep it hidden for five years to see George’s true colors. He promised he’d accept him if the man treated me well for that time.

George wrecked it in three years.

Estella’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade, smooth but merciless.

“I always knew George wouldn’t end well,” she said, settling across from me with two cups of Turkish coffee.

“But this? Framing you… wanting you locked up for five d*mn years?” She pushed one cup of tea toward me; the aroma filled the room and I sipped gratefully.

“