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 took a deep, steadying breath, but my chest feels so tight. My hands were shoved deep into the pockets of my trousers, my right fingers tightly wrapped around a small box.


 It was the custom-designed oval ring I had picked up. My palms were sweating, a detail that would have deeply annoyed me on any other day of my life.


Annie stood directly beside me, her small hand resting securely on my forearm. Her eyes were still covered by the heavy silk blindfold I had playfully tied around her head before we left the café down below.


"Clinton, seriously, where are we?" she laughed, her voice bright, airy, and full of that beautiful, unbothered curiosity that always made my chest ache. "We've been walking in circles, and I can smell flowers. Did you take me to garden?"


Chapter 282 - ~ 281