Chapter 1

My cousin crawled into the cornfield with a drunk Godfrey Cobb.

To save her own skin, she knocked me out and dumped me there, then called the villagers over to gawk.

I tried to deny it, tried to explain what really happened, but no one believed me.

Instead my parents rushed over and beat me half to death.

My reputation was ruined, and I had no choice but to marry Godfrey Cobb.

Then I watched, helpless, as my cousin took my college acceptance and went off to school in my place.

But I never expected that Godfrey Cobb, that penniless nobody, would stumble into a powerful benefactor and become a millionaire.

My cousin, meanwhile, was expelled from college for the identity fraud, and her body fell apart with illness.

On her deathbed, she clutched Godfrey Cobb's hand and wept until her voice broke.

“I was the one who crawled into the cornfield with you back then. She was jealous of me, so she tricked me away and stole my identity…”

I wanted to tell them the truth, but my parents turned around and backed my cousin's story.

“Every good day you ever had, you stole it from your cousin. She's dying now, and you're still lying through your teeth?”

Godfrey Cobb had already suspected I wasn't the one who'd been with him in the cornfield that night.

He hated me for deceiving him, and hated me even more for killing his “true love.”

……

With no way to defend myself, pregnant, I was thrown out of the house and froze to death…

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment my parents sent me to find my cousin.

I grabbed a gong and drum and banged them until the whole village was awake.

“My cousin is missing! Please, everyone, help me find her!”

The moment that shout tore out of me, more than half the village woke up, and plenty of people called back, saying they'd throw on some clothes and come right out.

Of course my parents heard the racket too. They came scrambling out the door to stop me, but by then I'd already gotten the villagers stirred up.

My mother, Emily Johnson, shoved into the crowd, slapped me across the back, and hissed under her breath.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? I sent you to find Madge, what are you screaming about?”

My father, Chester Morton, followed Emily's lead and reached out to pinch my ear.

“You want everyone knowing Madge isn't home in the middle of the night? You trying to ruin Madge's reputation?”

The old me would have admitted fault and backed down on the spot.

But now I only stepped back a few paces, banged the gong and drum louder, and raised my voice even more.

“Mom, Dad, I'm doing this for Madge's own good.”

“A girl not home this late at night, and we're supposed to hide it and not go looking?”

“And how did this turn into a reputation thing? Madge went to see a movie. Maybe she twisted her ankle and fell in a ditch. How am I supposed to find her alone? Of course we need everyone pitching in to look.”

The crowd was eager to help and eager for a show, so they chimed in one after another, lanterns and flashlights in hand, and started searching in an orderly line.

Chester Morton and Emily Johnson knew perfectly well that Madge Roy hadn't fallen into any ditch.

But two mouths couldn't hold back these few dozen eager villagers.

So they didn't dare make a fuss anymore. Teeth gritted, they charged to the very front of the search.

Because they both knew exactly what kind of person Madge Roy was, it wasn't long before they dragged me straight to the cornfield and found Madge Roy and Godfrey Cobb.

The color drained from both their faces.

They clapped their hands over my mouth at once, one on each side.

“Keep quiet. Just tell everyone Madge has been found and get them to go home!”

I nodded again and again.

Then the instant they let go, I struck the battered gong in my hands.

“Help!”

“My Madge has been killed by Godfrey Cobb!”