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.

Not because of the humming air conditioning or the sterile white walls.


But because something vital was missing.


The absence pressed down on me like a physical weight, making every breath feel labored.


Patricia had broken down twice already. The first time, her legs gave out in the hallway, and I had to catch her before she hit the floor. The second time came after the doctors gently guided her to a spare bed in the ward. Her breathing grew uneven, words tangling into panicked sobs as she kept repeating Octavia's name like a prayer that might summon her back.


"She's out there, Franklin… she's confused… she doesn't even remember who she is…"


Because every scenario playing in my head was worse than the last—Octavia lost and disoriented, Octavia hurt, Octavia… gone forever.


Chapter 144 - ~ 144