“I want a divorce.”

For a moment, silence hung on the line. Then my lawyer exhaled slowly. “Mrs. Amara… it isn’t as straightforward as you think. The marriage contract you and Mr. Kael signed has a stipulation—divorce will only be granted if one party betrays the other, and the betrayal must be backed with evidence.”

My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white. “I have evidence. I’m filing now.”

I didn’t wait for him to respond. I immediately forwarded a set of pictures I had hidden away—Kael, half-dressed, passed out drunk, tangled in bed with Cassia. And not just once. Repeated nights. Different positions. Different hotel rooms. Each photo captured by me for this very moment.

“Start the proceedings immediately,” I ordered, and without giving him a chance to argue, I ended the call.

I couldn’t let myself fall apart again.

The next call I made was to the agency. “I want to cancel my current identity,” I told them firmly.

The woman on the other end hesitated. “That can be done, Mrs. Amara, but the process takes ten days. You’ll need to wait until then.”

Ten days. Ten days of pretending I was still his obedient wife. Ten days of playing along, smiling when required, nodding at his commands, and lying with my eyes so he wouldn’t suspect my escape plan.

Before returning home, I went straight to the hospital. My younger brother was still unconscious, machines keeping him alive, his face pale and bruised, one arm wrapped in plaster. The doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle—trees had broken his fall before the ground could claim him.

He didn’t deserve this. He was just a boy. My only remaining family.

That’s why I arranged for him to be transferred abroad to a private medical center. Somewhere Kael’s money and reach couldn’t touch him. His records were altered, his name changed, his papers sealed under new protection.

I promised myself—Kael would never get near him again. Not for Cassia. Not for anyone.

By the time I reached the house, the sun had dipped low, painting the estate in fading gold. It looked like a palace, towering and immaculate. Yet it had never been a home. My footsteps echoed on the marble staircase as I trailed my hand along the cold railing. Every sound reminded me of the years wasted here.

I didn’t hesitate. I started packing—not just my clothing but my life. I tore photographs from the walls. Shoved jewelry into boxes. Tossed aside tokens of affection without a second glance.

In one drawer, I found our wedding album. A single photo caught my eye—Kael smiling, gripping my hand as though he meant forever. I stared at it long enough for my chest to ache. Then I ripped it clean down the middle.

Why had I ever agreed to marry him?

The memory surged back. Five years ago. My family’s company had crumbled. My parents were ill. Debt was drowning us. And Kael—the ambitious young CEO who once flashed me a charming smile at a gala—suddenly offered marriage.

“Let me take care of you,” he had said, voice gentle, promising. “I’ll clear the debts. Just marry me.”

I thought it was fate giving me a second chance. I thought he truly cared. I had already admired him from afar, so I accepted. For my family. For my brother.

At first, life wasn’t terrible.

He showed me kindness. Took me on trips to Paris. Bought me gowns straight from runways. Whispered tender words under candlelight dinners. And like a naïve fool, I gave him my whole heart.

But then Cassia returned. His so-called first love.

From that moment, everything changed.

He forgot birthdays. Skipped anniversaries. Stopped coming home at night. Slowly, I was reduced to nothing more than a housekeeper—an ornament in his grand estate—while she strutted through the front doors as though she were the rightful queen.

She cried out his name at night, loud enough for me to hear through the walls. I endured it all, convincing myself love was enough. That if I held on long enough, he’d remember the woman he once adored.

But love can’t survive inside chains.

And now I understood: Kael was never worthy of my love to begin with.

I fed the fire with every reminder of him. Letters. Pictures. Tokens of our marriage. One by one, they burned. The flames devoured our past until nothing but ash remained. I stared without a tear. I had none left to shed.

I stepped outside to throw away the ashes, and that was when the door slammed open.

“Amara!” Kael’s voice boomed, raw and furious.

I froze.

His eyes blazed with madness as he stormed toward me. His hand shot out, seizing my arm so hard I winced.

“You wretched woman!” he shouted, spit flying. “Do you even realize what you did to Cassia? You abandoned her in Greece!”

“What?” My eyes widened. “I told you—”

“She wasn’t used to the heat!” he bellowed. “She has blisters all over her body! Her skin is ruined because of you!” His tone broke, as though this injury to Cassia’s vanity was the greatest tragedy in the world.

I could only stare. “You’re furious because of blisters?”

He sneered. “She suffered because of your jealousy! You forced her away!”

“I didn’t!” I cried, jerking against his grip. “She left on her own! I don’t know anything about Greece!”

“You liar!” he roared, his face twisted. “She told me everything—how you drove her out because you envied her!”

Before I could protest further, his hand clamped harder, dragging me violently down the hallway.

“Kael, stop! Where are you taking me?”

“You need discipline,” he snarled. “A punishment for daring to hurt my Cassia.”

I kicked, I clawed, I screamed—but his strength dwarfed mine. He threw open the basement door and shoved me hard.

I stumbled down the stairs, crashing onto the icy floor. Pain shot up my arm as I hit the ground.

The door slammed shut above me.

Then—silence.

Kael knew every weakness I carried. He knew about my asthma. He knew heat could trigger an attack. He knew how the dark suffocated me with fear.

And once—he used to care.

I could still remember the day I was trapped inside the elevator at his company’s skyscraper. The lights had cut out, the air turning heavy and stifling. My lungs locked up, and panic consumed me. I was spiraling, unable to breathe.

He hadn’t hesitated back then. He broke protocol, shouted at his staff to reroute emergency power immediately. The moment the doors opened, he was there, pulling me into his arms, rocking me as he murmured, “You’re safe, I promise. I’m here. Nothing will ever harm you while I’m around.”

But those promises were empty.

Because now? He had thrown me into the basement. A suffocating hole that smelled of rust and damp mold. No windows. No light. Nothing but endless shadows swallowing me alive.

And all of this—because of her.

My throat was raw as I screamed his name. Again. Again. Louder. Desperate.

But only my own voice came back, warped and cruel in the echo of the stone walls. No one came. No one answered.

My chest tightened.

I curled into myself on the cold floor, tears streaking my face as I whispered into the void, “How… how did we fall this far? Did I really let myself believe you cared for me?”

Maybe that was my greatest mistake—believing in Kael at all.

Because the truth was deafening now: I had never been his choice. Just a contract, a convenient signature on paper. And the moment Cassia walked back into his life, I became disposable.

Suddenly, my lungs seized.

I gasped for air, clawing at my chest as heat wrapped around me like a noose. My breathing grew shallow, jagged. My throat tightened like it was closing off.

“Asthma…” I wheezed. “P-please…”

I crawled forward, dragging myself across the floor toward the stairs, my fingers grasping blindly for the door. “Help… someone…”

Nothing. No footsteps. No voice. Only the ringing roar in my ears and the crushing weight in my chest.

Then everything faded to black.

—

When I woke again, the first thing I heard was the steady beep of a monitor. The smell of antiseptic burned in my nose. The light above was dim, but it wasn’t darkness. I tried to move, but every part of my body ached as though I had been trampled.

“You’re awake.” A nurse appeared at my side. Her tone was soft, though her eyes carried hesitation. “Please, don’t push yourself, Miss Amara. You’ve got bruising, insect bites… and your breathing is still unstable.”

My lips were cracked. “Wh-where am I?”

“In a private hospital,” she explained. “You were discovered unconscious in a basement. Brought here by… I believe, a household butler.”

I blinked slowly. “Not… Kael?”

She shook her head. “No. No visits. No calls.”

My heart fractured into pieces.

He had left me there to die.

That was it. That was the breaking point. No more waiting. No more hoping for something that never existed.

Later that afternoon, I booked the first available flight to Germany—the same country where I had sent my brother, praying for the day he’d wake up. Then I forced myself to eat, to take my medicine, to shower even with the IV still taped to my skin.

If I didn’t care for myself, no one would.

That night, wrapped in a hospital blanket, I distracted myself by scrolling through my phone. That’s when the video appeared.

An auction.

Kael, standing beside Cassia, bidding outrageous amounts on anything her eyes lingered on. Cassia laughed sweetly, leaning to kiss his cheek as if the world belonged to them.

Comments flashed under the clip:

“He’s definitely her sugar daddy.”

“No, look at them—they’re practically married.”

“Wait… isn’t that Kael Smith?”

“Is she his real wife?”

My stomach twisted painfully.

We were never public. Kael always said it was to protect me. “The press is cruel,” he used to claim. “They’ll tear you apart.”

But the truth hit me like a blade. I was never supposed to be acknowledged. I had only ever been a secret—someone to fill his bed and legal obligations—until Cassia reclaimed her throne.

My phone slipped from my hand. I buried my face into the pillow. No tears came. I was past them. My heart was too numb. I closed my eyes and whispered to myself: ten more days. Just survive ten more days.

I thought exhaustion would shield me. That sleep might dull the pain.

I was wrong.

I woke to heat searing my skin, pressing mercilessly against my ribs. It was too much, scorching, unbearable.

“Ahhh!” I shrieked, bolting upright.

My eyes snapped open.

And there she was. Cassia. At the foot of my hospital bed. Holding a heating pad, pressing it against my side with a cruel little smirk.

“Oops,” she sang, tilting her head. “Too warm for your fragile lungs?”

I recoiled, trying to twist away, but she clicked her tongue and leaned closer, her smile dripping poison.

“Still clinging to life, I see. But really, what’s the point?” Her eyes glittered with malice. “Do you want to keep dragging this out? Or would you rather just die already, so I can finally have Kael without your pathetic shadow in the way?”

I watched her from where I lay on the hospital bed, every muscle sore, my chest still fragile from the suffocating attack. Yet none of those physical pains compared to the sting of her words—and the cruel certainty in her posture, like she had already claimed victory.

My voice came out quiet, but there was no tremor in it. “I don’t want to compete with you.”

She let out a mocking laugh, dismissive, but I didn’t stop.

“You’ve already won, haven’t you? He brought you back into his life. He picked you over me. Isn’t that enough?”

Cassia’s smirk only grew sharper, unyielding. “Enough?” she echoed, her tone sweet and poisonous. She stepped nearer, leaning in so her words dripped directly into my ears. “What I want is more than victory. I want you erased.”

She lifted her hand, deliberately showing off a ring that glittered viciously under the sterile hospital light. A ring I had never seen before.

“Kael and I are getting married, Amara. For real this time. Not as a deal. Not as a contract. But because we love each other,” she said, her lips curved in a smile that cut like a blade. “So gather whatever scraps of dignity you still cling to and disappear. Leave permanently.”

The bitterness burned down my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it. “You don’t have to threaten me,” I replied, steadying my gaze on hers. “I’m already leaving. I just need a few days.”

“Perfect,” she replied in a clipped tone. “Make sure you vanish, and never dare step foot back here.”

I inclined my head slightly. “Then make certain Kael doesn’t come searching for me.”

Her laughter burst out, ringing sharp and cruel against the hospital walls. “Oh, poor thing,” she said, her eyes glinting with amusement. “You still think he would? He hasn’t even bothered to set foot here, has he?”

My chest constricted, but I forced my face to stay unreadable.

“You want evidence?” she asked, her voice syrupy with mock concern. She slipped her hand into her purse before I could reply.

She pulled out her phone, tapped, and let the recording play.

Kael’s voice filled the room, low, harsh, and filled with disdain. “Amara? She’s meaningless. Just someone to warm my bed. A glorified caretaker, nothing more. I never felt love for her. She was… useful, that’s it. You’re the only one I’ll ever love, Cassia. Forever. She’s disposable, and soon, I’ll discard her completely. You have my word.”

My stomach dropped, even though deep inside I had already expected those exact words.

Cassia tilted her head, her eyes glittering with cruelty. “Still want to believe he’ll run after you, the way he chased after me?”

My jaw tightened. My eyes burned with unshed tears, but I refused to give her that satisfaction. I had shed enough tears for him already.

“Get out of my room,” I snapped, my voice breaking. “Stay away from me.”

Before she could reply, the door banged open.

“What the hell did you just say to her?”

Kael’s voice boomed like thunder.

My head whipped toward the sound, and there he stood—sharp features hardened, his eyes cold and blazing with fury.

“She came here out of concern while you’re in this state, and that’s how you repay her?” he barked. “You should be grateful. You should be apologizing.”

I blinked, disbelief clouding my thoughts. “Apologize?” I repeated, my voice hollow. “For what?”

His expression darkened, jaw tightening. “Are you honestly asking? You’re the reason she was hurt in the first place. You’re the one who pushed her away from me. If you hadn’t meddled, she would never have been dragged into this mess. It all circles back to you.”

Something deep within me fractured then. No misunderstanding, no denial. He truly believed it.

I stared at him—really stared—and realized I no longer recognized the man before me.

“I can’t listen to this anymore,” I whispered, my voice raw. “Just leave. Both of you. I need rest.”

But Kael wasn’t finished.

He stormed across the room and clamped his hand around my arm.

“No, Amara. You don’t get to rest.”

“Kael, stop—”

He yanked me upright, uncaring of the IV stuck in my hand or the searing pain that shot through my ribs.

“Have you forgotten?” His voice was venom. “You’re supposed to be handling my birthday celebration. It’s two days away, and you’re still lying here pretending to be some helpless victim?”

“I am a victim,” I whispered, each word trembling with anguish.

He didn’t acknowledge it. Or perhaps he simply chose not to.

“Get up. You’ve got work waiting.”

I turned my gaze toward the nurse, silently pleading—but she looked away, refusing to intervene.

A scream clawed at my throat. I wanted to collapse, vanish, escape this nightmare—but I didn’t.

I forced myself to rise. Slowly. My body quivered. My side burned. My heart bled.

And still—I stood. Because all I had left to hold on to was this: just a few more days.