Nancy was sitting at home trying to sort out her life. Trying to figure out what had gone wrong and what could be done to fix it. The weather was windy and rainy. Summer was almost over. There was something to look forward to, her trip to Hawaii. She was hoping to clear her head there and start finding some solutions. She was sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The sun was peeking through the window. The room was full of light. Nancy's expression was one of pain and worry. There were so many obstacles in her life, each taking a toll on her. The troubles she was having were with her husband and the family's financial situation. It was hard to cope anymore despite the fact that she considered herself a very strong person. Having no one around to support her made her even more vulnerable. Her husband was unsupportive and violent and was the worst part of her life. She had endured his abuse for twenty years. The load was getting too heavy, and she was not young enough anymore to be able to ignore certain things.

Though she lived in America, she had been born and raised in Poland, Europe. Nancy was a beautiful woman with blue eyes and light brown hair. Her parents had divorced when she was thirteen years old, after her mother had suffered being abused for years by her father. The problems she had as a child did not help. Nancy was thirty-nine years old, and her whole life was centered around her family. She was a devoted wife and mother who never found time to do anything about the problems in her own life. She did not feel secure in her relationship and did not know what the future held for her. Her husband, with whom she owned a business, was giving up on everything they had worked hard for because they owed so much money to the banks. Times were hard. It was the Great Recession, and the business was not making enough to cover all of the expenses. Nancy and her husband had been high school sweethearts. They met when she was in high school at a mutual friend's party. It was love of first sight, and they had been together since then. His parents never liked her and never gave them their approval. This had taken a toll on their marriage, and they were never left alone.

Her husband's name was Tom. He was a tall, handsome, dark-haired man with piercing brown eyes. Tom was an only child. His parents had met in their late thirties. Tom's father was a divorced dad with a daughter, and his mother was a single woman. Nancy and Tom had a beautiful, nineteen-year-old daughter named Jen. Jen had never known her grandparents. They lived so far away. Nancy and Tom had moved to the United States when Jen was only a baby. The only grandparent she knew was Nancy's father, who had married for a second time and had a daughter. His wife never wanted Nancy's family around. She wanted to keep everything for herself and her daughter, and Nancy's dad followed her strict orders. He saw his only granddaughter once a year, and sometimes only once every two years.

Nancy's mother, Rose, had been living with her second husband for twenty-five years. Nancy had never liked him. Her mother had changed a lot when she met that man. She was no longer this gentle, loving mother anymore. Her mother's new husband, Bob, wanted Nancy out of the house, which had been given to her mother because Nancy was under her care.

Things changed drastically when Nancy and her husband decided to go back and visit their parents in Europe. Her mother decided to have a will drawn up, so she could leave part of her estate to Nancy. The house had already been divided among her mother, her younger brother, and Bob, her mother's husband. Nancy was to inherit the part that belonged to her mother after her death. When her mother's husband found out, he became angry.