A young girl in Chantal Beauchene’s position is to be envied by her peers. Apparently she has everything: quiet beauty, intelligence, charm, surpassing musical talent, and a loving, wealthy family. Yet, there is a downside. Because of her slight accent, and her shyness, school mates not only tease but bully; and an almost unnoticeable physical deformity from babyhood holds her back from easily making friends. Also, there’s the whole teenaged angst thing, familiar to every parent... moreA young girl in Chantal Beauchene’s position is to be envied by her peers. Apparently she has everything: quiet beauty, intelligence, charm, surpassing musical talent, and a loving, wealthy family. Yet, there is a downside. Because of her slight accent, and her shyness, school mates not only tease but bully; and an almost unnoticeable physical deformity from babyhood holds her back from easily making friends. Also, there’s the whole teenaged angst thing, familiar to every parent. When handsome older man Jamie Redeker, spying the opportunity of a lifetime, comes along to flatter and cajole, she is young enough and naïve enough to fall for his line. The kidnapping plot he proposes achieves all he had hoped for, and the two make their escape with a backpack full of cash and a wallet full of forged credentials. At first their relationship works well enough, although Jamie is beginning to show a predilection for fast cars and fancy living. When Chantal attains her eighteenth birthday, he takes her to Las Vegas for a hasty wedding. There, he discovers an additional taste for gambling and drinking that bodes ill for their future. The ransom money has been all but used up, thanks to Jamie; and Chantal is forced into employment as a night club pianist in order to pay the bills. Much as she would like to make this union a success, Jamie is descending more and more deeply into a darker side that she cannot understand. Or accept. Not to mention that, forced by circumstances, she has left childhood behind for a rather frightening, shaky maturity. All her efforts at a rewarding partnership end the night he stumbles home in an alcoholic daze, only to attack and assault her. Finished, he disappears, leaving her broken and bleeding in their rented apartment. Chantal must somehow find her way out of this mess. But every road to escape seems blocked—by her husband. When life itself feels hopeless, in what way can Fate possibly intervene? less
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