The Worm Has Turned

SYNOPSIS:  After years of caring for her ailing mother then watching her die, Cadence has a lonely childhood.  Her only escape is her artwork, but when she meets Scott, for the first time, her world comes alive.  However, after their first sexual encounter, Cadence finds herself pregnant and alone once more.

Once their parents find out they’re expecting a grandchild, they force the kids to marry, creating not only a loveless marriage for Cadence, but such resentment in Scott that it soon escalates to the point that he feels his only way out is to murder his wife.

After stabbing his wife and leaving her for dead, Scott manages to get off on a technicality.  And throughout their divorce, it’s evident that the judicial system not only doesn’t favor Cadence, but it seems to give Scott a pat on the back as it bends over backwards protecting his rights and telling her she has none.  The only problem for Scott is that he’s ordered to pay child support.

Luckily for Scott, the Florida Child Support Enforcement Agency is backlogged, and Cadence doesn’t qualify for assistance.  But he promises to stop at nothing to get out of supporting a kid he never wanted, even if it means killing his own child.  Cadence feels helpless until she starts dating the police officer who investigated her stabbing, and he helps her find a way to use her art to make the same law that protected Scott’s rights go to work for her.

Hold on tight as you travel with Cadence through the twists and turns of this psychological thriller, and watch vengeance unfold as the abuser becomes the abused in THE WORM HAS TURNED.

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Word Count: 95,500
First Draft: November 22, 2013 – January 12, 2014
Status: Vaulted
Genre: Psychological Thriller

HISTORY:  In 2013, I pondered whether or not to fictionalize my own child support dilemma.  I’d already done over a year’s worth of research and contacted over 1,700 attorneys throughout the nation for a Bill I hope to get passed in Florida regarding the collection of child support.  But I prayed about things and knew it was time to bring light to the dilemma of many single parents who single-handedly support their children with no help from their children’s other parent or their state government.  Having worked as a paralegal for fourteen years, I know firsthand how the law does not always equate to justice for everyone, and what’s morally right and legally right may be two very different outcomes.

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QUICK PITCH:  After Cadence’s ex-husband tries to murder her, he gets off on a technicality.  But when he ends up killing their daughter in a so-called “accident” just to get out of paying child support, Cadence must find a way to work within the limits of the law to get even in this psychologically thrilling tale of Enough meets Shutter Island.

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