Chapter 3

I closed my eyes for a second, letting the scenes from the nightmare wash over me.

After delivering his ultimatum in the dream, Elijah had stood there with an arrogant look on his face, fully expecting me to cave.

Because he had been the center of my world since we were teenagers. He was dead certain I didn't have the spine to actually leave him.

"Think it over carefully," he had said. "Do you want to keep living in luxury as Mrs. Lopez, or do you want to end up as a waitress getting yelled at for minimum wage?

"As long as you stop throwing these pathetic tantrums, I promise your status here will remain untouched."

But in the dream, I had scoffed.

"Who gives a damn about status? If you can't be faithful to me, then what is the point of all this money?"

I had demanded the divorce, fighting tooth and nail for the last shred of my dignity. I genuinely believed I was capable of surviving on my own.

Elijah hadn't argued. He just had his lawyers draft a separation agreement splitting our assets fifty-fifty.

But my stupid, stubborn pride had kicked in.

I refused his money, calling it a handout.

I chose to humble myself and beg for jobs rather than take a cent from him.

And, exactly as he promised, I was laughed out of every single interview.

It ended with me starving for three days, entirely broke, sleeping in the lobby of a KFC while strangers glared at me in disgust.

And the absolute worst part? Sitting in that lobby during a thunderstorm, I watched through the window as Elijah's luxury car pulled up across the street. Linda was in the passenger seat. They were sharing a slice of cake.

He leaned in, playfully flirting with her as if they were two teenagers in the honeymoon phase.

I took a deep breath, snapping back to the present.

I was not going to put myself through that hell.

Because at the end of the day, all those sweet vows about love didn't mean a damn thing compared to cold cash in your bank account.

So, right there in front of Elijah, I grabbed Linda's hand and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "You guys are flying out of town for a business trip tomorrow, right?"

Linda nodded, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

I smoothly slipped a small pill into her palm and lowered my voice.

"Make sure he takes this before bed. Trust me, it'll make your night way more fun."

Linda stared at me, her eyes practically bugging out of her head.

She looked completely bewildered. "How did you..."

It made sense that she was suspicious. We had been locked in a silent turf war for over a year.

I pulled her a few steps toward the door, away from Elijah's immediate earshot.

I said, keeping my tone light and breezy, "Hey, what else am I supposed to do? If he's already set on you, fighting it is just exhausting.

"I might as well roll with it. Hell, maybe he'll feel so guilty about it that he'll shower me with cash to make up for it."

Linda looked completely dazed, entirely unable to process my sudden generosity.

Seeing Elijah stepping toward us, I quickly nudged her to stash the pill in her pocket.

When I turned around, Elijah's eyes were burning with fury, and his brows knitted tightly together.

"Are you threatening her again?" he scoffed. "God, I really gave you too much credit. I actually thought you were trying to be mature."

I held my hands up in mock surrender.

"Don't put words in my mouth. I was just reminding her to take good care of you on the trip and asking her to text me your itinerary so I can live vicariously through your fun."

He let out a harsh breath. "Are you done with this push-and-pull act yet?"

I ignored his sarcasm and offered a friendly reminder.

"Believe what you want. Oh, by the way, I read online that there's a gorgeous scenic spot in the city you're visiting.

"Once you wrap up your meetings, you should take Linda there. Don't just work the poor girl to the bone. You've got to romance her a little, you know?"

Elijah didn't say a word.

He just glared at me, his eyes radiating a suffocating, icy pressure.

After a long, tense standoff, he finally broke the silence with a cold laugh.

"Avery, your acting is absolute garbage. If you really didn't care about me anymore, you would have slapped me with divorce papers the second Linda walked into the picture. You're just putting on this 'cool wife' act to make me feel guilty, aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes so hard they almost got stuck in the back of my head.

"When I freak out, you call me unreasonable. When I play it cool, you accuse me of playing mind games. So basically, whatever fits your narrative is the truth, right?"

He stared at me coldly, his jaw clenched tight.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"Whatever. All I know is that I am completely sick of your attitude right now."

I couldn't even be bothered to argue. I just turned on my heel and walked out.