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.

The morning felt completely different as I walked down the path of the estate. For the first time in a whole long while, I felt like a truly free man. The heavy, suffocating weight that had crushed my chest for years was gone. I was no longer looking over my shoulder, searching the crowds for my mother's dark shadow. She was behind bars. Her power over me was broken.


In my hand, I tightly clutched a small scrap of paper. Written on it was an address, the exact apartment building where Victoria was staying right here in the city. Octavia had kindly handed it to me just before I left the house. She had given me a warm, encouraging smile, after Franklin told me that it was time to fix what had been broken. 


I walked out to the main road and hailed a yellow taxi. As the car drove through the busy city streets, my mind raced. I was a mess, but, I was moving toward my own future, not a path forced upon me by someone else.


Chapter 294 - ~ 293