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.

I could feel it. The way she'd been since yesterday, the way her eyes didn't quite focus when I was talking to her, the way she'd jump at small sounds. She was keeping something from me. I knew her well enough by now to recognize when she had something bothering her. A secret. A fear. Something she didn't want to burden me with.


Instead, I held her close that night, kissed the top of her head, and whispered that everything would be okay. I didn't ask questions. I just made sure she felt safe, secure, loved. Sometimes that was enough. Sometimes a woman didn't need words, she needed to know that someone was there, that she wasn't alone, that whatever she was carrying, she didn't have to carry it by herself.


I wrapped my body around hers, my hand resting on her stomach where our baby was growing. "I've got you," I whispered. "Both of you."


Chapter 218 - ~ 218