The prison was dark and damp. It allowed minimal rays of westward-slanting sunlight to shine through a small square window on the wall, bringing a faint glimmer of light to Lanny's prison and her life as well.

She had spent the most torturous week of her life in prison, spending her days facing the old, dark gray walls, analyzing the rough texture of the concrete walls. The rough fabric of her prison uniform, made of synthetic fiber, rubbed harshly against her delicate skin and irritated it. The harsh reality made her chest tight and her eyes red and puffy from all the crying.

She had always been the apple of...