Chapter 2

Kennedy POV:

I woke up to the sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic and the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. A crisp white sheet was pulled up to my chin. My leg was encased in a heavy cast, throbbing with a dull, persistent ache.

A kind-faced nurse bustled in. "Oh, you're awake! That was quite a nasty break you had. A compound fracture of the tibia. You're very lucky a good Samaritan called 911 so quickly."

A good Samaritan. Not my husband. The irony was so bitter it almost made me choke.

"Do you have any family we can call?" she asked, fluffing my pillow. "A husband, maybe?"

I met her gaze, my own feeling strangely calm, strangely empty. "No," I said, the word coming out clear and firm. "I'm single."

The nurse blinked, looking down at the chart in her hand. "Oh, that's odd. Your intake form says you're married. A Mrs. Franco?" She looked at the platinum and diamond wedding band still on my finger.

"We're getting a divorce," I stated flatly. "It's just not finalized yet."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear-"

"Don't be," I cut her off, a sliver of ice in my tone. "I'm not."

Before she could respond, the door to my private room swung open. Corbin stood there, immaculate in a fresh suit, not a single hair out of place. He looked less like a man who had just left his wife bleeding on a sidewalk and more like a man stepping into a boardroom.

He heard my last sentence. His brow furrowed with annoyance. "What's this nonsense about a divorce?" he asked, his tone dismissing the nurse as if she were a piece of furniture.

The nurse, intimidated by his arctic presence, scurried out of the room.

I had to think fast. The real divorce papers were still just a file on my lawyer's computer. The resolve had been born in that cafe, but the execution hadn't happened yet. He couldn't know my real plan. Not yet.

I conjured up the most believable lie I could. "It's for a friend," I said, my voice carefully neutral. "Her husband is being unfaithful. I was just asking the nurse about the legal implications of filing while one party is hospitalized. Just a hypothetical, for my friend's case."

Corbin's expression cleared. He was a prosecutor; he understood hypotheticals. "I see. If your 'friend' needs a recommendation for a good divorce attorney, let me know. I know the best in the city."

The sheer, breathtaking audacity of it stole my breath. He stood there, offering to help me divorce him, with no idea he was the subject.

"Actually," I said, seizing the opportunity. "Could you do me a favor? My friend wants to see a draft of a standard divorce agreement. The kind with a clean break, no-fault, mutual consent. Could you... could you draw one up for me? As a reference."

He didn't hesitate. For Corbin, this was just a legal exercise, a problem to be solved with ruthless efficiency. "Of course. I'll have my assistant send a template over." He pulled out his phone, already tapping out an email.

He looked up, a flicker of something I couldn't decipher in his eyes. "About yesterday... Annis is fine. It was just a scare."

It took every ounce of my self-control not to laugh in his face. "I'm so glad," I said, my voice dripping with a saccharine sweetness that was pure poison. "I was so worried about her."

"I know you think I overreacted," he said, completely missing my sarcasm. "But with her hemophilia, any injury, no matter how small, can be catastrophic. I couldn't take that risk."

"Of course not," I murmured. "A broken leg is so much less catastrophic than a potential paper cut."

"What was that?"

"I said, you did the right thing," I replied, my smile feeling like a porcelain mask about to crack. "You protected what was most important."

He seemed satisfied with that. He was so wrapped up in his own narrative, his own justifications, that he was blind to the truth staring him in the face.

Just then, his assistant, a brisk young woman named Clara, knocked and entered, holding a tablet. "Mr. Franco, the draft you requested."

"Thank you, Clara," he said, taking the tablet. He handed it to me. "Here. Just have your 'friend' fill in the blanks." He pointed to the signature lines at the bottom. "Petitioner here, respondent here."

As I took the tablet, his phone rang. The screen lit up with a name: Annis.

His entire demeanor changed. The cold, professional mask melted away, replaced by that same gentle warmth I had seen at the cafe. "Hey," he said into the phone, his voice a low, intimate caress. "Did you sleep well?... No, of course I'm not busy. Nothing important."

He listened for a moment, then his face creased with concern. "You're feeling anxious? Okay. Stay right there. I'm on my way."

He hung up and turned to me, his expression once again cool and distant. "I have to go." He took a pen from his pocket, scribbled his name on the respondent line of the digital form without even glancing at the text, and handed the tablet back to Clara. "Finalize this and keep it on file."

He walked out of the room without a backward glance.

I stared at the tablet. There it was. Corbin Franco. His signature, stark and angular, on a divorce agreement. My divorce agreement. He had just signed away our marriage to run to her side because she was feeling "anxious."

My hand was shaking as I took the stylus from Clara. I found the petitioner's line and slowly, deliberately, signed my name.

Kennedy Pitts.

It was done. My six years of loving him, of waiting for him, ended with two signatures on a cold, impersonal screen.

The next two weeks in the hospital were a blur of pain, physical therapy, and solitude. Corbin never visited. He sent flowers-white lilies, sterile and scentless, just like his affection-and had his assistant handle the bills. I learned from the celebrity gossip sites that he was never far from Annis Holder's side, photographed escorting her to and from "doctor's appointments."

On the day I was discharged, he finally showed up, looking vaguely annoyed at the inconvenience.

"Sorry I couldn't be here sooner," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "This merger I'm advising on has been brutal."

A merger. I almost smiled. Was that what they were calling it now? I could smell the faint, sweet scent of her perfume clinging to his suit. It was a floral fragrance, something soft and innocent. Something completely unlike the bold, spicy scents I preferred.

He drove me home in silence. The familiar chill of our apartment felt colder than ever.

Then, to my utter shock, he said, "Are you free tomorrow night?"

I stared at him. "What?"

"I want to take you out," he said. "To celebrate your recovery."

I was so stunned I could only nod.

The next evening, he took me to a new, impossibly exclusive restaurant overlooking the city. He pulled out my chair. He ordered my favorite wine without me having to ask. He even engaged in small talk, asking about the book I was reading, complimenting my dress. It was the most "normal" date we'd had in six years.

I felt a dangerous flicker of hope, a stupid, treacherous little flame I thought had been extinguished for good. Maybe seeing me hurt, maybe the shock of almost losing me, had finally woken him up.

"Corbin," I said, my voice soft. "This is... nice."

He gave me one of his small, controlled smiles. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. I wanted it to be perfect."

Halfway through dessert, his phone buzzed. He glanced at it. "Apologies, Kennedy. It's work. I have to step out for a moment."

He left the table. But this time, a cold knot of suspicion tightened in my gut. I waited a few minutes, then quietly got up and followed him.

He wasn't on the phone. He was standing by the valet, handing his keys to the attendant. As his car pulled up, another figure emerged from the shadows.

It was Annis.

She was wearing a beautiful silk dress, her hair styled perfectly. She smiled up at him, a radiant, expectant smile.

I shrank back behind a large marble pillar, my heart pounding in my ears.

Corbin opened the car door for her, the same way he had for me an hour earlier. She got in. He drove away.

I stood there, frozen, as I watched them go. Then, on a gut instinct, I pulled out my phone and hailed a cab. "Follow that car," I said, my voice devoid of all emotion.

The cab trailed them through the city. They didn't go far. They pulled up in front of the exact same restaurant we had just left.

I watched from the taxi window as Corbin escorted Annis inside. He pulled out her chair. The sommelier approached, and I saw Corbin order a bottle of wine. A few minutes later, the waiter brought their appetizers.

It was the exact same date. The same restaurant, the same table, the same wine, the same food.

He was re-creating our evening, step by painful step.

My phone vibrated. It was a text from Madison. Saw this online. Thought you should know. It was a link to a gossip blog. The headline read: Annis Holder's Surprise Birthday! Prosecutor Corbin Franco Plans the Perfect Night!

Her birthday. He had used me.

He had used our date, our conversation, my favorite things, as a dry run. A rehearsal. To make sure everything was absolutely perfect for her.

I watched as Annis looked at him, her eyes wide with adoration. "Corbin," I could practically hear her say, even through the thick glass window. "How did you know this was my favorite wine? How did you know I'd love this dish?"

And I could see his smug, satisfied smile as he replied, "I just had a feeling."

I wasn't a wife. I wasn't even a person to him.

I was a focus group. A practice dummy. A checklist to be perfected before the real performance.

The cab driver's voice broke through my numb horror. "Ma'am? Where to?"

I stared at the scene before me-the man I had loved, lavishing the affection I had craved for years on another woman, using me as a tool to do it.

A single, tearless sob escaped my lips.

"Home," I whispered. Then, my voice getting stronger, firmer. "Take me home."

It wasn't a home anymore. It was just a house. And I wouldn't be staying there for much longer.