I let out a loud, genuine laugh, staring at the hand gripping my wrist. I shook my head, looking up at his furious face.

“I’m not yours,” I said, pulling my arm. His grip was like iron. “In fact, I don’t even know you.”

Brandon’s expression darkened. Before he could snap, Vaughn stepped between us, effortlessly breaking Brandon’s hold.

“Yeah, she’s my date tonight,” Vaughn said, his tone light but his gaze sharp. He placed a hand on the small of my back. “Do you have a problem with that, Brandon?”

Brandon’s hands curled into fists. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to cause a massive scene right there on the pavement.

But then, a piercing scream echoed from inside the lounge.

“Brandon!” Paula shrieked.

Brandon froze. The possessive rage in his eyes vanished, instantly replaced by panic. Without throwing a single backward glance in my direction, he turned and sprinted back inside to his precious first love.

I stood on the sidewalk and laughed. It was a hollow sound, but it felt incredibly freeing. He couldn't even pretend to care about me for a full minute.

“Well,” Vaughn murmured, opening the passenger door of his sports car. “Shall we?”

I slid into the plush leather seat. As Vaughn drove us away, the city blurred past the windows.

“Hmm, interesting,” Vaughn said, breaking the silence. He tapped the steering wheel, glancing at me with a playful smirk. “I know of him, obviously, but I don’t know who his girl is. Are you really not his girl?”

I leaned my head against the cool window. “I’m no one’s.”

Vaughn chuckled, a deep, rich sound. “Is that so? Maybe you should be my girl, then.”

I just laughed it off, closing my eyes and letting the exhaustion wash over me.

The next morning, I was dead asleep on the sofa bed in the apartment when violent banging jolted me awake. The doorbell rang incessantly.

I dragged myself up and peeked through the peephole. Standing in the hallway were two massive men in tailored black suits—Brandon’s security detail.

I cracked the door open, leaving the chain on. “What do you want?”

“Ma'am,” the lead guard said stiffly. “Mr. Sterling demands that you come back to the estate immediately.”

I rolled my eyes. “If he wants me, he has to come and take me himself.”

I slammed the door in their faces and locked the deadbolt.

Less than twenty minutes later, the banging returned. This time, it was louder, accompanied by a voice I knew all too well.

“Victoria! Open this damn door!” Brandon roared.

I sighed, undoing the chain and pulling the door open. Brandon stood there, his chest heaving with barely contained rage.

“Get your things,” he demanded, stepping into the doorway. “You’re coming home right now.”

I crossed my arms, leaning casually against the doorframe. “No, I will not. We are divorced, Brandon. We are not married anymore.”

“I don’t care about a piece of paper!” he snapped.

“Why are you throwing a tantrum?” I asked, offering him a mocking smile. “Is it because you love me? Or is it because you’re just jealous that I can finally replace you?”

Brandon’s eyes flashed. He stepped into my space, backing me up against the entryway wall. A dark, arrogant grin spread across his face.

“No,” he whispered, his voice dripping with toxic confidence. “You can never replace me. You’re mine.”

He grabbed my wrist. “And you’re coming home.”

“If you don’t come willingly,” he added, his voice dropping into a lethal threat, “I will force you. And I will make sure your mother’s hospital funding is cut today. She will die, Victoria.”

I stared at him. He was using a dead woman to blackmail me. He didn’t even bother checking if she was still alive?

I wanted to scream, to spit in his face. But fighting him now would only complicate my escape.

I let out a heavy sigh, dropping my shoulders. “Fine.”

I grabbed my suitcase and followed him to his car. The ride back to the sprawling Sterling estate was silent.

When we finally walked through the grand double doors, Brandon turned to me, his authority restored.

“You’re going to stay here until we get married again,” he ordered.

I looked around the empty foyer. “What about you? Are you going back to Paula?”

“Yes,” he admitted without an ounce of shame. “But I will surely come back for you. I’ll buy you everything to make up for this little rebellion. What do you want?”

I looked him dead in the eye. “I want an island.”

Brandon paused, surprised, but then a smug smile touched his lips. He thought he had bought my obedience once again.

“Okay,” he agreed smoothly. “I'll buy you an island. As long as you stay right here.”

I nodded obediently. “I will.”

I watched him walk out the door to return to the woman he truly loved. I stood alone in the massive foyer, pretending I was going to wait for him.

But as the heavy oak doors clicked shut, I smiled.

A few more days, bye Brandon.

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.

The brush glided smoothly across the canvas. I mixed a deep, bruised shade of purple, completely lost in the quiet of my room.

I was just counting the days. Vaughn was moving fast, pulling strings in the shadows to finalize everything for our sudden wedding and my complete extraction from the country.

The heavy oak door suddenly banged open.

Brandon stormed in, his tie loosened, a crumpled piece of paper crushed in his fist.

“Why the hell did you resign from your post?” he demanded, his voice echoing off the walls. “You’re supposed to be my head secretary! I just learned you haven’t been working for days!”

I didn't even flinch. I carefully dipped my brush into the water glass. “You locked me in this house, Brandon. Have you forgotten?”

“Stop making excuses!” he snapped, crossing the room in three long strides. “The clients are a massive mess because you didn’t do what you had to do!”

Before I could answer, he lashed out. His hand caught the edge of my easel, violently shoving it. The wet canvas crashed onto the hardwood floor.

He stepped right on it, his expensive leather shoe smearing hours of my work into an ugly, ruined streak of paint.

I stared at the ruined canvas, my chest tight.

“I told you,” Brandon growled, leaning down so his face was inches from mine. “You are mine. So go to the office right now and arrange everything. Including the charity ball on the 17th of next week.”

The 17th. The night before my scheduled flight. The night before I was supposed to marry Vaughn.

I looked up at his furious, entitled face. Fighting him would only draw attention to my escape.

I let out a long, exhausted sigh. “Fine.”

An hour later, I walked onto the executive floor of Sterling Corporation. The whispers started the second the elevator doors opened.

“She’s still here? I thought she was finally gone.”

“She just won't let him go. It’s pathetic.”

“She always played favorites anyway, sleeping her way to the top.”

I ignored the venomous stares and walked straight to my desk. I spent the next few hours ruthlessly fixing the scheduling disasters and smoothing over angry clients.

Around noon, the glass doors swung open. Paula strolled into the department, carrying a tray of expensive coffees.

“Oh, Victoria!” Paula called out loudly, making sure the entire floor was watching. She walked over to my desk, a sickly sweet smile on her face. “You’re still working? Brandon is just too kind, letting his ex-wife keep a job out of pity. Just make sure you don't mess up the charity ball, okay? It's very important to us.”

She left a coffee on my desk with a condescending pat on my shoulder. The entire office snickered. I just picked up the cup and dropped it straight into the trash can.

A few days later, the tension in the company reached its peak.

It was the quarterly investor meeting. The grand boardroom was packed with the most powerful shareholders in the city.

Brandon sat at the head of the long mahogany table, radiating power.

Paula, despite having no actual position in the company, was perched in a chair right behind him, her hand resting possessively on his shoulder.

I stood at the front of the room, holding the presentation remote.

“If you direct your attention to the screen,” I said clearly, “you will see the projected revenue for the upcoming quarter.”

I clicked the remote.

The massive screen flickered. But it wasn't my financial slides.

It was a security video from Brandon’s private office. The timestamp in the corner was from months ago—the night of our fourth divorce attempt.

My own voice, thick with tears and desperation, echoed loudly through the silent boardroom.

“Please, Brandon. Just look at me. Don't do this.”

On the massive screen, my past self was sobbing, clinging to his suit jacket. I watched in absolute horror as the video showed me desperately trying to kiss him, begging him to love me back, while Brandon stood there, cold and unmoving, looking at me like I was garbage.

The boardroom erupted into shocked gasps and frantic whispers.

Paula jumped up from her chair, her hands flying to her mouth in exaggerated horror.

“Oh, god!” she cried out, her voice piercing the room, trembling with fake devastation. Tears instantly spilled down her perfectly made-up cheeks. “I can't believe you’d do this to me, Victoria! You’re seducing your own CEO? Have you no shame? You knew we were together!”

The remote slipped from my numb fingers, clattering against the floor.