Chapter 2
Series 1 Chapter 2
The hospital room was suffocatingly quiet when I opened my eyes.
An IV tugged at the bruised skin on my wrist.
There were no flowers beside my bed.
No coat folded over the chair.
No husband asleep in the corner.
Later, Marcus told me a server had ignored Lucas’s order and called 911.
The paramedics reached me before my airway closed completely.
Only one message from Lucas.
You made a scene tonight. We’ll talk when you calm down.
I stared at the words until my vision blurred.
Then another notification lit up my screen.
Not from Lucas.
From the county court portal.
Last day of the thirty-day waiting period.
Under the prenup Lucas had signed, either of us could file the dissolution notice once.
If neither of us withdrew it before midnight, the dissolution order would be entered.
For three full seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
Not because I regretted it.
Because I had almost died on the last day I was still legally his wife.
The door opened quietly.
Marcus, my family’s chief legal counsel, stepped in with a black folder in his hand.
“Miss Reed,” he said. “The divorce cooling-off period ends tonight at midnight.”
I looked at him.
“Has Lucas filed anything to stop it?”
“No.”
“Has he asked where I am?”
Marcus was silent for half a second too long.
Then he said, “No.”
I smiled.
It hurt more than crying.
“Then we let it end.”
Marcus opened the folder.
“There is one more thing.”
“The attending physician has filed a mandatory report.”
“Intentional allergen exposure.”
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
Marcus continued, “The Northbridge Club preserved the surveillance footage. Their catering system also shows an override on your event allergy alert.”
“Who touched it?” I asked.
Marcus paused.
“We’re still confirming the access trail.”
I closed my eyes.
Mia’s smile flashed through my mind.
But Lucas had held the bowl.
Lucas had looked into my face and told me to drink.
So I said only one thing.
“Save everything.”
Marcus nodded.
“And Lucas?”
I looked at the divorce countdown on my phone.
“Lucas can find out at midnight.”
Three years ago, I hid the Reed name and married Lucas Carter as nobody from Ohio.
Back then, he was poor.
Hungry.
Almost painfully sincere.
I thought he wanted me.
Not my family.
Not my money.
Not the empire waiting behind my last name.
So I gave him three years.
A home.
A marriage.
A softer version of myself.
And on the last day of that marriage, he handed my life to another woman and called it embarrassing.
Something inside me went very still.
I stopped waiting to be chosen.
Against medical advice, an hour later, I stepped into my villa.
Loud laughter spilled from the foyer.
For one second, I thought I had entered the wrong house.
My wedding photo was gone from the mantel.
In its place stood a silver-framed picture of Lucas and Mia from his birthday dinner.
Mia sat in my chair.
Wearing my cream cashmere shawl.
Drinking from my favorite mug.
A pink lipstick stain marked the rim.
Lucas’s friends and investors filled my living room, drinking my wine, sitting on my custom furniture, laughing as if the woman who owned this house had not just been carried out on a stretcher.
For a second, the villa did not feel like mine.
It felt like I had come home to find myself erased.
“Sophie.”
Lucas finally looked at me.
Not with guilt.
Not with fear.
With annoyance.
“Take the tea Mia made, apologize for the misunderstanding, and go upstairs.”
Mia lowered her eyes.
“There are guests here. Don’t make this harder for Lucas.”
Mr. Warren set his cup down.
“One public tantrum can ruin a man’s reputation, Mrs. Carter.”
Mrs. Carter.
The name landed like a dirty hand around my throat.
I looked at the clock.
9:06 p.m.
Less than three hours left.
I did not take the tea.
I did not apologize.
I only looked at the cream shawl around Mia’s shoulders.
“Marcus,” I said.
The front door opened behind me.
Marcus walked in with four attorneys.
Each one carried a black folder.
Lucas shot to his feet.
“What the hell is this?”
“The first marital asset recovery notice,” Marcus said.
He placed one document on the table.
“This villa is registered under Miss Reed’s private name.”
The room went quiet.
He placed down the second document.
“The vehicles in the garage were purchased through Miss Reed’s personal trust.”
The third.
“The wine, the furniture, and the art currently inside this property are all personally owned by Miss Reed.”
Mia’s fingers tightened around my mug.
Marcus looked at her.
“The shawl on your shoulders was billed to Miss Reed’s black card.”
Mia went pale.
I stepped closer.
“My chair.”“My mug.”“My house.”
I looked at Lucas.
“My life.”
“And you invited her to sit in all of it.”
Mia stood up so fast the tea spilled over her fingers.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
I looked at the diamond necklace resting against her throat.
“Take that off too.”
Her hands flew to her neck.
Lucas’s face darkened.
“Sophie, don’t humiliate her.”
I laughed once.
Short.
Ugly.
“I almost died tonight, Lucas.”
I pointed at Mia.
“And you’re worried about her necklace?”
Lucas’s eyes were bloodshot.
“You want a divorce?”
He laughed like I had told a joke.
“Fine.”
Then his smile turned cruel.
“But I won’t sign.”
Mia looked relieved.
Lucas stepped closer.
“You can scare her with papers,” he said to Marcus.“But you can’t end a marriage without me.”
For the first time that night, I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
I looked at the clock.
9:11 p.m.
Then I looked back at Lucas.
“You already signed.”
The room froze.
Lucas’s smile disappeared.
Marcus opened the final black folder.
“Mr. Carter signed the prenuptial dissolution clause thirty days ago.”
Lucas stared at him.
“That was just to shut her up.”
Marcus’s voice stayed calm.
“Legally, it was valid.”
Mia’s lips parted.
Marcus continued,
“The thirty-day period ends tonight at midnight. If Miss Reed does not withdraw the filing, the marriage terminates automatically under the agreement.”
Lucas slowly turned to me.
For the first time, he looked scared.
I picked up my phone.
Two hours and forty-nine minutes left.
Mia suddenly grabbed Lucas’s arm.
“Then expose her,” she whispered.
Lucas’s eyes changed.
He had found another knife.
“You think you can walk away from me?” he said.
Then he lifted his phone.
Before Marcus could stop him, Lucas sent the files to every society group chat he knew.
My hidden marriage.
My divorce petition.
My medical emergency.
The asset recovery notices.
Everything.
Mia’s smile returned.
“Let the whole city see what kind of woman you are,” she whispered.
My phone buzzed.
Then Marcus’s.
Then every phone in the room.
For three seconds, no one spoke.
Lucas looked satisfied.
He thought he had ruined me.
Then Marcus’s face changed.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
“Miss Reed,” he said quietly.
“The leak triggered a private security protocol.”
Lucas frowned.
“What protocol?”
Marcus did not answer him.
He looked only at me.
“The one your father built for you.”
The room went silent.
Lucas’s smile faded.
“What father?”
Before Marcus could answer, my phone lit up.
Unknown encrypted call.
No name.
No number.
Only a black screen and one sentence.
ANSWER WITHIN TEN SECONDS.