Are There Books Like 'Picking Cotton' About Wrongful Convictions?

My husband, Carlton Stewart, looked me right in the eye and asked me to abort his unborn child. Then he asked for a divorce. That didn’t hurt me more than when I discovered the reason he asked me to abort his child. I felt so worthless and even more worthless when my husband threw me in jail after my sister accused me of a crime, we all knew I would never commit. Six months went down in speed and I was out of prison with six months pregnancy. Unconventionally, I met a young man who surprisingly was hell-bent on helping me take revenge on my ex-husband and all of them who’d hurt me.

"Vera, you are accused of conspiring with the Petrov Group to assassinate the family's future Donna, Sylvia. This tribunal is now in session." In the center of the tribunal, a syringe filled with a dark green liquid glinted under the lights. My former fiancé, Rocco, the new Don of the Corleone family, sat on the dais, disgust plain on his face. "Confess. Let everyone see the monster you are behind that mask." Sylvia leaned against his chest, a faint smile on her lips. She thought I would finally break, my reputation in ruins. Shackled to the accused's chair, a smile of faint relief touched my lips. "Rocco, are you sure you want to do this?" "Use that needle, and there's no going back."

On the day I rejected Isabelle Hale, Wall Street's newest golden girl, everyone thought I had lost my mind. She had everything: a Wharton degree, a national finance championship, a perfect family name, and a résumé polished enough to make doors open before she even knocked. But I knew what was hiding behind that name. Fifty years ago, her grandfather stole my grandmother's acceptance letter, her New York scholarship, and the future she had earned with her own hands. He used them to escape an Appalachian coal town with another woman, then built himself into a celebrated Ivy League professor who lectured rich students about ethics. My real grandmother, Grace Walker, was left behind in coal dust and shame. My mother grew up carrying the weight of that stolen life. They lifted me out anyway. I made it all the way to Manhattan, to a glass conference room at Northbridge Capital, where Isabelle sat across from me in a black suit tailored like victory. She thought her family name would protect her. She thought I would bow. Instead, I closed her file and said, "You didn't pass." By the next morning, they had fired me, dragged my name through the mud, and turned a press conference into my public trial. They forgot one thing. I didn't climb to the top of Wall Street to beg for a seat at their table. I came to take back every name, every chance, and every voice they stole from women like us.

My in-laws were hit by a car crash. I called my husband, begging him to give me some money to pay the hospital bill. He said, "Oh, if you want money, just come out with it. That excuse is terrible!" He hung up on me. Despite how unfair it felt, I had to call him again. This time, a voice I was familiar with hit my ears. A woman's voice. "Chris, I got a bit too much sunscreen on my hand. Can I smear the rest on your abs?" Lovingly, my husband said, "You little troublemaker." His parents died that night. Overseas.

I was going to tell my husband I was finally pregnant. Instead, I found police at my door, arresting me for his murder. Someone faked Chris's death and framed me with a man I've never met: Von Castellano, whose wife conveniently provided evidence against us both. The proof is flawless. The conspiracy is airtight. And I'm thrown into a men's prison where I lose everything, including my baby. But Chris isn't dead. He's alive, living in paradise with my high school rival and my company's fortune, after poisoning me for years to ensure I'd never have his child. Von isn't just any man. He's the secret son of a mafia king, and he's ready to reclaim the throne he abandoned. Now we're married. Not for love but for survival. For revenge. For power. They destroyed us once. Together, we'll become the nightmare they never saw coming. Because I don't forgive. And I never forget.

My wife has an emotional breakdown after being violated. She insists I'm the one who orchestrated it, but both our parents know her true love is the actual culprit. Still, they don't object to her insane retaliation. They even have me locked up in a prison abroad. As I'm tormented, she sells my company to help her true love get away scot-free. Ultimately, he's set free, but I die without even having a final resting place. When a judge informs her to collect my body, she sneers and says, "I've had enough of this nonsense. Does he think he can get away with a fake corpse? I won't even bat an eye if his body is flushed down the drain! He's nothing but a disgusting criminal!" Later, she realizes that I've truly died. She's delighted, but her laughter soon turns to tears as she holds my corpse.