My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I picked it up, the screen illuminating the dark bedroom.
Flight confirmed. Your new apartment in Paris is fully furnished and paid for the first year. Everything is ready, Kristen’s text read.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Freedom was finally tangible. Just three more days.
Before I could lock the screen, another message popped up. It was from an unsaved number, but I knew exactly who it was.
What about the deal? Have you thought about it? Vaughn asked.
I stared at the glowing words. Last night in the car, Vaughn had made me an offer. He knew I wanted to disappear, and he had the resources to make me completely untraceable. In exchange, he wanted the internal financial documents I had memorized during my years playing the dutiful CEO's wife.
I was still weighing my options when the bedroom door suddenly flew open, slamming against the wall.
Before I could even sit up, a hand cracked across my cheek. The slap was sharp, the sting immediate.
“You bitch!” Paula screamed, her perfectly manicured face twisted in ugly rage. “What did you do to Brandon? Why did he change his mind?”
I slowly turned my head back to face her, tasting copper on my lip. I didn't flinch. I just looked at her, my expression completely blank.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice eerily calm.
“Don't lie to me!” Paula shrieked, stepping closer. “He was supposed to propose to me tonight! The ring was ready, the press was waiting! But he canceled everything and said he needed to finalize his remarriage to you first! What kind of spell did you put on him?”
I let out a dark, humorless laugh. So Brandon had actually delayed his precious proposal just to keep me trapped.
I stood up from the bed, towering over her slightly. “Maybe he finally realized you’re just a tourist in his life, Paula. You leave whenever you get bored, and you only come back when you need his money. Maybe he actually loves me now because I was the one who stayed.”
It was a lie, of course, but I wanted to see her bleed.
Paula’s eyes widened in fury. She raised her hand to strike me again. “You delusional—”
“What the hell is going on here?”
The deep, furious voice came from the doorway. Paula froze, her hand suspended in the air.
Brandon stood there, his eyes sweeping over the room.
The second Paula saw him, her entire demeanor shifted. The vicious, screaming woman vanished.
“Brandon!” she cried, running to him and burying her face in his chest. “She’s crazy! I just came to ask her why she was doing this to us, and she started saying horrible things! She said you never loved me!”
I stood there, the metallic taste of blood still on my tongue, the red mark burning into my cheek. I waited for Brandon to look at me. I waited for him to see the cut on my lip, to see that Paula was the one who had hit me.
But he didn't.
Brandon wrapped his arms tightly around Paula, kissing the top of her head. Then, he looked at me. His eyes were completely devoid of the possessive fire from this morning. There was only cold, hard disgust.
“Are you out of your mind, Victoria?” he spat, his voice laced with venom. “I brought you back here to keep you out of trouble, not to terrorize the woman I actually love.”
My chest tightened. Even though my heart was already dead, his words still managed to twist the knife.
“She hit me, Brandon,” I said quietly, pointing to my bleeding lip.
He didn't even blink. “Don't play the victim. You provoked her. Let me make this perfectly clear to you so you stop living in a fantasy: I only delayed the proposal because the PR optics of a sudden divorce look bad for the company right now. I need you to play the good wife for the shareholders for a few more months.”
He sneered, his grip tightening protectively around Paula.
“Don't flatter yourself into thinking I want you,” he added cruelly. “You are nothing but a convenient shield until Paula and I are ready.”
He turned around, guiding a sobbing Paula out of the room, leaving me completely alone in the cold, silent bedroom.
I stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty doorway. The last pathetic, lingering shred of hope I didn't even know I was holding onto finally turned to ash.
I walked calmly back to the nightstand and picked up my phone. I opened the message from the unsaved number.
My fingers didn't tremble at all as I typed my reply to Vaughn.
I'll take the deal. Get me the hell out of Brandon’s life.
