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 click of the nursery door sealing shut behind Flynn did nothing to lower the boiling pressure inside my chest. I turned around, my boots heavy against the floorboards, and strode toward Octavia and I's bedroom. My jaw was clenched so tightly that my teeth ached.


Before I could even turn around to face the room, the doors of the master suite were slammed shut behind me. Bang. The wood rattled in its frame, a sharp, violent sound that signaled the immediate explosion of the storm I had been trying to avoid.


I turned slowly. Octavia stood there, her breathing shallow and fast, her cheeks flushed with a volatile mix of absolute exhaustion and pure, unadulterated fury. The gentle, peaceful mother from this afternoon was gone; in her place was a woman pushed entirely to her absolute limit.


Chapter 274 - ~ 273