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 directed Walter to Jovita's, a quiet, upscale haunt nestled in a corner of the city that felt worlds away from the glass-and-steel chaos of the Flemington Group. It was Clinton's favorite restaurant—the kind of place where the tables were spaced for privacy and the lighting was designed to soften even the hardest truths. I understood why he chose it. It was a place for things that mattered.


My fingers tightened around my black clutch as I stepped inside. My eyes scanned the room, bypassing the lunchtime crowd until they landed on him. Clinton was seated in a far corner, his posture uncharacteristically stiff. His expression was a mask of unreadable glass until his eyes found mine. The last time we had been face-to-face was the night of his birthday—a night that ended in shattered expectations and bitter silences.


Chapter 194 - ~ 194