The Backbone

He knelt three times in his life: to learn a craft, to marry into his wife's family, and to call a strange old man "Dad."

For the best ten years of his life, his wife was gentle and considerate, and his father-in-law treated him like his own son. It wasn't until the day he was sentenced to death that he learned even his own parents' decision to make him marry into another family had been part of someone else's scheme.

An old man spent the last of his life saving him from death row. He got back on his feet, avenged himself, repaid his debts, and gave his own life in the end.

For someone who clawed his way out of the mud, has he spent enough of this life on his knees?

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.