He threw money on the bed after our one-night stand.
I threw it back in his face at his own inauguration.
By sundown, we were engaged. By the week's end — married.
Franklin Flemington needed a wife to secure his empire. I needed a miracle to save my family. For two years, we played our parts flawlessly — the golden couple the whole city envied.
Behind closed doors, I was invisible to him.
When the two years were up, I handed him divorce papers without blinking.
He stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "I've given you everything a husband should. What more do you want from me, Octavia?"
I smiled, signed my name, and walked out.
I thought that was the end. I thought I'd finally won.
I forgot one thing — Franklin Flemington has never lost anything in his life. And he has no intention of starting with me.
Game on.

When I finally got home that evening, the apartment felt colder than usual, the silence pressing in from every corner. I tossed my keys onto the counter and noticed the missed call from Octavia. My thumb hovered over her name, the urge to call her back strong. But then the memory of the gun pressed to my head, the bat cracking against my skull, and that gravelly voice warning me to stay away flooded back. I couldn't risk it. Not now. I was protecting her—even if it meant keeping my distance. 


My time with Annie earlier had been amazing, a rare pocket of lightness in days that had grown heavier and darker. Yet, the next day, as I sat at my desk, work—the one thing that had always been my escape—now felt like a cage. 


The file lay open in front of me, untouched. 


Chapter 139 - ~ 139