“Given your refusal to respect the legal adoption,” the judge said, lifting the gavel, “this court sentences you to 20 years in prison.”
Angela gasped. “Twenty years? Please, your honor, I didn’t mean any harm.”
But it was too late. The gavel struck the desk.
Catherine smiled faintly as Angela broke down in tears. The woman who once claimed to save her daughter had just destroyed her completely.
Twenty years later, Angela walked slowly out of the prison gates. She was now 45 years old. Her once dark hair had gray streaks, and her eyes carried the sadness of everything she had lost.
The city outside looked nothing like the one she remembered. New roads, new buildings, new faces.
Everything had changed—except the emptiness inside her.
She went to where her old apartment used to be, but it was gone. In its place stood a shiny shopping mall filled with bright lights and laughter.
Angela stood there quietly, feeling invisible. She had nowhere to go, no one waiting for her. Twenty years gone—all because she had loved her daughter too much.
For weeks, Angela searched for work. She walked from one place to another—restaurants, shops, offices, factories.
“Sorry, we can’t hire you,” people said again and again. “We need someone with recent experience.”
No one wanted to give a job to a woman who had spent 20 years behind bars.
She was running out of the small amount of money the prison had given her. Soon she would be homeless again—just like she had been two decades ago.
One afternoon, while walking through the city, she noticed a sign outside a tall glass building:
CLEANERS WANTED. APPLY INSIDE.
Angela looked up at the massive skyscraper that reached for the sky. The glass walls reflected the sunset. It was the most beautiful building she had ever seen.
The sign said: Williams Corporation.
Angela didn’t know it belonged to the same family that had destroyed her life. She only knew she desperately needed a job.
Inside, the lobby was like a palace—marble floors, gold decorations, and a huge chandelier that sparkled above her head.
She walked up to the front desk.
