Chapter 1

My husband, the ruthless Don of the Parks family, made his choice.

When his mistress burst in screaming that her son was sick, Jackson didn't hesitate. He left me-his wife who had just been poisoned-pinned against the wall to die, rushing to comfort a child who wasn't even his blood.

That night, "Elena Parks" died in a fiery car crash.

I spent years rebuilding myself in France, hidden by Hamilton Nixon, a man who loved me in the shadows. I finally found peace. I finally felt free.

But Jackson found out the truth. He discovered the boy was another man's son and that his mistress had been drugging him. Instead of letting me go, his grief turned into a terrifying obsession.

He hunted me down, kidnapped me, and dragged me back to the estate that had been my prison.

I woke up tied to our marriage bed with silk ribbons.

"I'm building a garden," he whispered maniacally, stroking my hair as I struggled against the bonds. "Just like you wanted. We're going to be happy."

He thought kidnapping was a grand romantic gesture. He thought he could erase the abuse with a fresh coat of paint and forced proximity.

But he underestimated me. And he underestimated Hamilton.

After a violent rescue, I rose from the ashes not as his wife, but as a titan of industry.

Six months later, Jackson stormed the stage at my global summit. He knelt before me on live television, holding a ten-carat pink diamond, thinking he could buy my forgiveness.

"I'm ready to take you back," he announced to the world.

I looked at the man who had destroyed me, then at Hamilton, the man who had saved me.

I grabbed Hamilton's lapels and kissed him in front of millions.

"There is no 'us', Jackson," I told him into the microphone, watching his world shatter. "You are just haunting a graveyard."

Chapter 1

Elena POV

Jackson didn't even come himself.

He sent his men to drag me back, like a runaway dog being returned to its kennel.

I had tried to negotiate through his Consigliere, demanding a separation, demanding my freedom. I thought I had leverage. I thought the secrets I held gave me power.

I was naïve.

In this world, power isn't held by those who know the truth; it belongs to the men holding the guns.

Two massive guards flanked me as I was shoved into the foyer of the Parks estate. The marble floor was just as cold and unyielding as I remembered, a mausoleum of lost dreams.

"Where is he?" I demanded, my voice raw from screaming.

Jackson descended the grand staircase. He looked impeccable, his suit tailored to perfection, not a hair out of place. But his eyes were wild, rimmed with sleepless red.

"You think you can leave me?"

His voice was low, a dangerous rumble that vibrated through the floorboards. "You think you can just walk away from the Parks family?"

"I have nothing left here, Jackson," I said, my chin trembling despite my best efforts to hold it high. "You took everything. My dignity. My marriage. My future."

He crossed the distance between us in three long strides, gripping my shoulders. His fingers dug into my flesh, possessive and bruising.

"I did what I had to do. For us. For the family."

"For us?" I laughed, a dry, brittle sound that hurt my throat. "There is no 'us'. There is you, and your ambition, and your... other family."

He flinched, a crack in his armor.

"Candida means nothing. She is a means to an end. You know the rules, Elena. The lineage must be secured."

"And I am just the barren vessel that failed you."

"No." He shook me, desperate now. "You are my soul. My conscience. I need you here. I need you to be the lady of this house. If you leave, the wolves will smell blood. They will think I am weak."

He pulled me into his chest, crushing me against him. I smelled his cologne-sandalwood and tobacco-a scent that used to make my knees weak. Now, it just made my stomach turn.

"Stay," he whispered into my hair. "I will make it up to you. I swear."

I stood rigid in his arms.

I remembered the annulment papers. I remembered the baby we never had. I remembered the lies. But I also felt the gun holstered under his jacket pressing against my ribs.

If I fought now, he would lock me in the tower. I needed space. I needed time.

"Okay," I lied. The word tasted like ash on my tongue.

"I'll consider it. But I need space. Don't touch me."

He released me immediately, visible relief washing over his features. "Of course. Take all the time you need. Just... be here."

I retreated to my room-our room-and locked the door. My phone buzzed against my thigh. It was a decrypted message from Hamilton Nixon.

The pieces are moving. Be ready.

I took off my wedding ring. The diamond felt heavy, like a shackle. I opened the bottom drawer of my vanity, threw it in, and turned the key.

*

Two days later, Jackson forced me to attend a family gathering.

"It's just a dinner," he said, adjusting his cuffs in the mirror. "We need to show a united front. Rumors are spreading."

I put on the dress he chose-a blood-red silk gown that clung to every curve. It felt like a costume. It felt like armor. I was playing the role of the dutiful wife one last time.

The ballroom was suffocating. The air was thick with expensive perfume and the metallic tang of hidden violence. I stood by Jackson's side, smiling until my face ached.

Then I saw them.

In the corner, near the heavy velvet drapes, Jackson was leaning in close to Candida. He wasn't touching her, not overtly. But the way he tilted his head, the way his eyes softened... it was intimate.

It was the look he used to give me before the world got complicated.

Candida laughed at something he said, her hand brushing his arm. A proprietary touch.

I felt the bile rise in my throat.

Jackson saw me watching. He stiffened, stepping away from her, and walked toward me. He pulled a velvet box from his pocket.

"For you," he said, loud enough for the nearby Capos to hear. "A token of my appreciation for your... patience."

He opened it. A diamond necklace, thick and gaudy.

"A family fund," he murmured. "Ten million dollars. In your name. Just be good, Elena."

Before I could answer, Candida glided over. She hooked her arm through Jackson's, smiling at me with shark-like teeth.

"You should take it, honey," she purred. "It's a generous severance package. You have nothing else, do you? No child. No real status. Just a shiny trinket to wear while you rot in this big, empty house."

The room spun. The champagne, the perfume, the lies-it was too much.

I pushed past Jackson, ignoring his call, and ran for the restroom. I barely made it to a stall before I emptied my stomach.

I was rinsing my mouth when the door banged open. Jackson stormed in, locking it behind him.

"What the hell was that?" he hissed. "You're embarrassing me."

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and turned to face him. The mirror reflected a woman I barely recognized-pale, hollow-eyed, but with eyes burning with a fire that had been dormant for too long.

"I saw you," I said. My voice was deadly calm. "I saw the way you looked at her. The way you let her touch you."

"She is the mother of my heir!" he shouted. "I have to maintain the alliance!"

"She is your wife!" I screamed back. "In every way that matters to your twisted laws, she is your wife. And I am just the mistress you keep for public appearances because I look good in photos!"

The silence that followed was deafening.

Candida's voice drifted from the hallway, muffled but clear. "Don't be too hard on her, Jackson. She's just upset because she knows she's obsolete. A tool that can't perform its function is just garbage."

Jackson's jaw clenched. He looked at me, conflict warring in his eyes. But he didn't go out there to shut her up. He didn't defend me.

That was the moment the last thread snapped.

"You will never be forgiven," I said. "For what you did to me. For making me a mockery."

"You stay," he growled, stepping close, looming over me. "You stay, or I burn everything down."

I looked him in the eye. I summoned every ounce of acting skill I possessed.

"Fine," I whispered, lowering my head in mock defeat. "I'll stay. Just... leave me alone tonight."

He let out a breath, straightening his jacket. He thought he had won. He thought he had broken me.

"Good girl," he said, and walked out.

I waited until his footsteps faded. Then I looked at myself in the mirror one last time.

*Good girl.*

No.

The good girl died in this bathroom.