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 first thing I felt was warmth. It wasn't the searing, localized heat of inflammation or the sticky dampness of blood, but a soft, golden radiance that seemed to soak into my very bones. The relentless, rhythmic pounding of the Amazonian rain had vanished, replaced by a silence so profound it felt like a physical embrace. I didn't feel the suffocating weight of the canopy or the jagged edges of broken metal pressing into my skin.


I opened my eyes, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. The ceiling above me was white, clean, and familiar—the intricate crown molding of my bedroom at the estate. There was no smoke, no scent of jet fuel, only the faint, comforting aroma of expensive linen and the lingering trace of Octavia's perfume. I let out a long, shuddering exhale, my body sinking into the impossible softness of the mattress beneath me.


"See? I told you that you would be fine."


Chapter 181 - ~ 181