Chapter 12 Three months later , the court delivered its final judgment : Ethan Cole was sentenced to twenty - five years in prison for intentional injury resulting in death , commercial fraud , and other charges . Vanessa Blake received twenty years for fraud , operating a prostitution ring , and related crimes . Prison life was far worse than either of them had imagined . Ethan was placed in a high - security block , where he endured constant harassment and beatings from fellow inmates . The " business genius " he once flaunted meant nothing here - if anything , his status as a convicted fraud made him the lowest of the low . Vanessa's fate was even uglier . News of her fake heiress persona spread quickly through the women's prison , making her the butt of every joke . Families of wealthy men she had conned took great pleasure in finding new ways to humiliate her . Her compulsive need for cleanliness became a cruel irony in the filthy , overcrowded environment she was now forced to live in . As for the colleagues who had taken part in that " water gun game " ? After their month - long " special team - building " exile on the deserted island , every one of them developed a severe fear of the ocean . For the rest of their lives , they couldn't go near the shore - some couldn't even bring themselves to take a bath . And me ? Under my father's arrangement , I went abroad to continue my studies . Three years later , I built a pure white orphanage by the sea and named it Dawn's Haven . Every morning , I took the children for a walk along the shore , watching the sun rise over the horizon , spilling gold over the waves . Most of these children carried tragic pasts , just as I once had . Chapter 12 20.79 % But I taught them to heal with love and to face the future with hope . The orphanage walls were lined with photographs of their smiling faces , each picture holding a story of rebirth . The sea breeze drifted through , carrying the sound of their laughter like silver bells . I stood on the balcony , watching them chase each other along the shore , and finally understood- some love neve