Chapter 2

Alex froze for a second, disbelief written all over his face. He probably couldn't believe that with his company falling apart, all I cared about was a dress.

What he didn't realize was that this was only the beginning.

As he was lost in thought, my phone buzzed. It was a number I didn't recognize.

I picked up and put it on speaker.

Emily's voice came through, shaky and on the verge of tears. "Is... is this Charlotte? Alex drank way too much and won't stop puking. Can you come help?

"The address is Evermont Residences, Building 18, Room 2101."

Emily kept going. "Charlotte, I know you don't like me, but Alex isn't okay. He won't stop calling your name."

Alex went completely pale. He stared at my phone like he wished he could somehow destroy it by looking at it.

I burst out laughing.

Alex had never seen me laugh like this because in his mind, I had always been gentle, compliant, and timid.

He probably thought Emily's call would break me and send me into hysterics. Too bad for him; he was wrong.

I turned off the speaker and put the phone to my ear.

"Evermont Residences, Building 18, Room 2101, right?" I repeated the address. "Got it."

Emily went quiet. She clearly hadn't expected me to react like that.

Before she could say anything else, I hung up and looked at Alex. "Looks like you have another place called home, huh?"

Alex tried to say something, but he couldn't get a word out.

Emily's call hit him like a punch, smashing all his flimsy excuses.

He stammered, "Charlotte, I—"

"Fuck off." That was all I said.

I looked at him so coldly that he instinctively let go of my wrist.

He stared at me, his eyes full of shock and confusion, as though he had never truly known me at all.

"Go to your new home and take care of the woman waiting for you there." I picked up the small suitcase beside me and prepared to leave.

Alex finally snapped out of it and rushed over, blocking my way.

This time, he dropped his pride. "Charlotte, don't go. Please hear me out. Emily was just... I wasn't thinking straight. You know you're the only one I care about.

"Come on, is this seriously what you want to talk about right now? Horizon Dynamics is falling apart. We built it together."

He was trying to use our past and our shared business to keep me from walking away. It was his usual trick.

It used to work, but not anymore.

"Does your company have anything to do with me anymore?" I asked calmly.

Alex was stunned. "What?"

"From day one, Horizon Dynamics is your company. Not mine." I pulled out my phone and played a recording right in front of him.

The recording was a conversation between him and his mother from last week.

Alex said, "Mom, relax. Once the funding is in, I'll come clean with Charlotte. I've already taken care of Michael. He has no idea I changed the company's ownership structure a long time ago.

"Charlotte doesn't know a thing. Without me, she couldn't even support herself. I'll toss her a bit of cash and kick her out. By then, everything that belongs to the Quinn family and Horizon Dynamics will carry our name."

The recording stopped, and the room went dead quiet.

Alex's forehead was slick with cold sweat.

He stared at me as if he were looking at a monster. "When did you—"

"Does it matter?" I pocketed my phone and brushed past him toward the door. "Alex, you don't trust your own wife, but you expect my brother, who's spent his whole career dealing with people like you, to believe your lies?

"You really overestimate yourself."

And you seriously underestimated me.

I reached for the doorknob.

Alex rushed up behind me and wrapped his arms tightly around me, his voice shaking with desperation. "Don't go, Charlotte. I'm sorry. I really am.

"Please give me another chance. We'll start over, okay? I'll get Emily out of our lives right now. Tell Michael to stop withdrawing the money, and I'll do whatever you want."

I didn't move. I simply let him hold on to me.

I waited until he had calmed down a little before asking quietly, "Alex, do you know which hospital my mom is in?"

He hesitated. "Of course, I do. It's St. Claire Hospital."

"Which department? Who's her doctor? What's the name of the new meds she started last month?" I fired off the questions one after another.

Alex was speechless. He couldn't answer any of them.

My mom got sick three years ago and had been in treatment ever since. The company had paid every one of her medical bills, exactly as Alex kept reminding me. That was the leverage he had always held over me.

He figured I'd put up with anything for my mom's sake.

I gently pried his hands off me. "You don't care enough to know how my mom is doing, and you expect me to believe I matter to you?"

I turned around and looked at his pale face. "Alex, the game is over."

I opened the door and walked out.

Behind me came his desperate scream. "Charlotte, don't forget that your mother's surgery is still being paid for through the company. If you destroy me, I'll stop paying for her medication."

I stopped in my tracks, but didn't look back.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside. As they slowly closed, I saw my reflection in the metal doors. My face was blank.

Was that a threat?

Alex, your greatest mistake was believing I was nothing more than a housewife who could never survive on her own.

You thought I couldn't make it without you. You thought Michael being in Lorenca meant he had no idea what was going on. You were wrong.

The elevator hit the ground floor. A black Rolls-Royce was waiting outside the lobby.

Michael was leaning against the car, waiting for me.

As soon as he saw me, he stubbed out his cigarette and opened the door. "All done?"

"Just getting started," I said as I slid into the seat.