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.

My desk phone rang, cutting through the hum of the office. "Hello?"


"Miss Herman? This is Steph at the front desk. You have a parcel waiting for you."


"I'm on my way," I said, heading for the lobby.


The parcel was small—a single, perfect red rose and a handwritten note. 


I opened it and read the elegant script: "You kept me up all night because you were in my dreams again."


I called Clinton immediately, and he picked up on the first ring.


"You didn't have to do this," I said, leaning against a marble pillar in the lobby.


"I had to," he replied, his voice a warm caress. 


"Just so you have something to remember me by today."


I smiled, but then a realization hit me. I hadn't given him my office address. 


"Not to be rude, Clinton, but how did you get my office address?"


"I think you mentioned it in one of our conversations," he said finally.


Chapter 38 - ~ 38