Wronged

𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗔 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 . . .  𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂—𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.  Only, the past had a tendency to follow, and this small beach town ended up becoming my personal Hell. That is…until 𝘴𝘩𝘦 forced her way into my life, with her stubborn determination and her sunshine smile.  She didn’t look at me like they did—like I was a monster that needed to be shunned.  And instead of steering clear, she kept showing up at my door with unwanted hope. But she was better off staying away. She didn’t deserve the life sentence they’d given me. Or my battered heart. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶 𝗔 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱… Only, fate had a way of turning simple into complicated. The stories started almost immediately—warnings about a dangerous and depraved man. A criminal and a monster. But sometimes appearances can be deceiving, and the more I looked into the ocean-colored eyes of this outcast, the more I saw a different story. Of innocence lost and scars that ran deep. He might grunt, glare, and push me away, but every wall has cracks . . .   And I was determined to find his