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 stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of my grandfather's private study, staring out at the jagged Manhattan skyline.


"He's here, sir," one of my grandfather's bodyguards announced as he stepped into the room.


"Let him in," my grandfather commanded. The bodyguard nodded obediently and vanished.


My grandfather looked ancient today. The lines around his eyes were etched deeper than ever—the heavy price of a legacy built on a foundation of secrets. Then, the door swung open, and Dorian Harrington stepped in.


 He didn't look like a disgraced, rejected board member. He looked like a victor returning from a long, successful war. He wore a suit and his smile was a jagged blade.


"Frederick. Franklin," Dorian said, his voice as smooth as silk and twice as slippery.


 "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."


Chapter 22 - ~ 22