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.

As the days bled into one another, the fog in my mind finally began to lift. The physical ache of the head injury was fading, leaving behind a sharp, crystalline clarity that felt more like a weapon than a relief. My memories were intact—every kiss from Franklin, every cruel word from the board, and every terrifying second of the fall.


I made the hospital my second home. Frederick couldn't be alone. He was the root of the Flemington tree, and even if he was currently dormant, I needed him to know I was there. I was his only family left on this side of the veil. But the doctors were a chorus of hopelessness.


"He's stable, Mrs. Flemington, but waking up is…statistically improbable at this stage."


Chapter 186 - ~ 186