Chapter 4

Gracelyn POV:

The message from Kristian was a lifeline thrown into my sea of despair. My fingers trembled as I typed a reply, a desperate plea for help. He called immediately, his voice a warm, familiar balm that momentarily soothed the raw edges of my soul. He found me shivering in the diner booth, wrapped me in his expensive cashmere coat, and drove me to a private hospital. He handled everything – my legal fees, the medical care, the barrage of media inquiries he somehow managed to deflect. He was my knight in shining armor, a stark contrast to the man who had cast me out into the cold.

But even Kristian' s kindness couldn't erase the deep-seated humiliation that festered within me. The memory of Chace's cold eyes, his dismissal, his cruel words – "My charity" – replayed in an endless loop. I had given him everything, my love, my trust, my identity, only for him to shred it and stomp all over it.

Lying in the sterile white hospital bed, the pain of my physical injuries paled in comparison to the agony of betrayal. I had sacrificed my career, my dreams of becoming an interior designer, to support his ambition. I had believed his promises, endured his family's subtle slights, and the public's outright scorn, all for a future that was never meant to be mine. He wasn't just a controlling husband; he was an abuser, a manipulator who had used my love as a shield for his own selfish desires.

Kristian sat by my bedside, his presence a comforting anchor in my stormy world. He didn't ask for details, didn't pry. He just listened, his hazel eyes full of a quiet understanding. But I knew what I had to do. I had to reclaim my name. I had to prove I wasn't just a delusional stalker, that I was Chace Bentley' s wife. The only way to do that was with the marriage license.

"I need to get something back," I told Kristian, my voice weak but determined. "From Chace's penthouse. Our marriage license. It's the only copy. He sealed the digital records years ago."

Kristian's brow furrowed. "Gracelyn, it's too dangerous. He has security crawling all over that building. You just got out of the hospital."

"I have to," I insisted, a fierce urgency gripping me. "It's the only way I can prove who I am. The only way I can divorce him and finally be free."

He finally nodded, a reluctant acceptance in his eyes. "Okay," he said, his voice soft. "But we do it my way. With a plan."

A plan. Something Chace had always promised, but never delivered.

Kristian had a network, a web of contacts forged from his meteoric rise in the tech world. He arranged for a "distraction" at the Bentley penthouse, a minor alarm to pull security away from the main floors. He gave me specific instructions, a detailed layout of the building, and a timeline.

The night of the "heist" felt like a scene from a spy movie, except I was no spy, just a broken woman desperate for justice. Dressed in dark clothing Kristian had provided, I slipped past the diverted security, my heart pounding in my chest like a drum. The penthouse was even more opulent than I remembered, each piece of art, every custom-made furniture item, a painful reminder of the life I' d helped him build, the life he now shared with Celina.

I knew exactly where Chace kept his important documents: in a hidden safe built into the wall of his private study. The same safe where I had found the prenup. My hands trembled as I punched in the code, a jumble of numbers that used to hold so much meaning. It was Celina's birthday. The realization sent a fresh wave of nausea through me, but I pushed it down. Focus, Gracelyn. Focus.

The safe clicked open. My eyes scanned the contents, my gaze immediately settling on a thick envelope, clearly marked "Marriage Certificate." Relief, sweet and intoxicating, washed over me. I reached for it, my fingers brushing against the crisp paper.

Then, the alarm blared. A piercing, metallic shriek that echoed through the silent penthouse. My blood ran cold. The distraction hadn't worked. Or it had worked too well. Panic seized me. I fumbled with the certificate, my hands shaking so violently I almost dropped it. I shoved it inside my jacket, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Footsteps. Heavy, rapid, approaching fast. I turned, a desperate plea forming on my lips, ready to explain. But it was too late. Two burly security guards, men I' d never seen before, burst into the study. Their faces were grim, their eyes narrowed. They didn' t recognize me. To them, I was just an intruder.

"Freeze!" one of them barked, his voice laced with menace.

"No, wait!" I cried out, my hands raised in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not-"

But they didn't listen. They didn't care. Their orders were clear: eliminate any threat. They tackled me, slamming me against the desk. Pain exploded in my head as it hit the sharp corner. My vision swam, lights dancing before my eyes. A fist connected with my stomach, stealing my breath. Another blow to the head. I tried to curl into a ball, to protect myself, but their boots rained down on me, heavy and unforgiving.

"Thieving bitch!" one of them grunted, his voice thick with rage. "You think you can just break in here and steal from Mr. Bentley?"

I coughed, a painful gasp escaping my lips, tasting blood. "No... I'm... his wife..." The words were muffled, barely audible, slurred with pain.

They laughed, a cruel, mocking sound that echoed in the haze of my agony. "His wife? You're the crazy stalker! Don't you know who Mr. Bentley' s fiancée is?"

Another kick. Another blow. The world spun, darkening at the edges. I felt the precious certificate slip from my grasp, falling onto the carpet, just out of reach. My last hope, floating away.

Then, a new voice, sharp and furious, cut through the haze. "What the hell is going on here?"

The blows stopped. The guards froze, their bodies stiffening. I heard a familiar voice, thick with anger. Chace.

I slowly lifted my head, my vision blurry, my body screaming in protest. He stood in the doorway, his face pale, his eyes wide with horror as he took in the scene. My battered, bloody form on the floor, the two hulking guards standing over me, and the precious marriage certificate lying carelessly on the Persian rug.

"Gracelyn?" he whispered, his voice laced with disbelief.

My eyes met his. A flicker of something, regret? shock? flashed in his gaze, but it was quickly replaced by something else: exasperation. "You shouldn't have broken in, Gracelyn," he said, his voice flat, devoid of real emotion. "You know the rules. You brought this on yourself."

The words were like a final, fatal blow. He still didn't care. He still blamed me. He still refused to acknowledge my pain, my existence. The last fragile thread of hope snapped. I closed my eyes, a silent tear tracing a path down my bruised cheek. The darkness swallowed me whole.