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.

The world outside the window of the speeding SUV was nothing but a chaotic blur of flashing streetlights and passing cars. Our driver was navigating the night traffic with frantic urgency, the tires occasionally screeching as we took sharp turns toward the hospital.


Inside the back seat, I was completely drowning.


The calm, peaceful serenity of the beach was gone, violently ripped away and replaced by a cold, suffocating terror that made it impossible to breathe. My chest heaved as I stared blankly ahead, my mind spinning entirely out of control. 


Images of my father, always so strong, so stubborn, so fiercely protective of our family, kept flashing behind my eyelids, except now I could only picture him pale, lifeless, and hooked up to machines.


A heavy, crushing wave of guilt slammed into my chest, threatening to break me right then and there. How could I have let this happen? For weeks, I had been completely consumed by the madness of everything.


Chapter 239 - ~ 239