Chapter 5

Ashton Donaldson POV:

The security guard, a hulking man named Miller, hesitated, his gaze flicking between my retreating husband and Brianne, and my frozen form. "Ms. Donaldson?" he finally mumbled, an awkward plea for direction.

I didn't answer. My body felt numb, but my mind was a raging inferno. He had left me. Again. The moment Brianne appeared, I became invisible. A problem to be handled. Not a wife. Not a person. The air around me felt thick, suffocating, each breath a struggle. Every word he'd spoken to me, every touch he'd forced, replayed in my head, now tainted with the bitter taste of his true devotion. He called it "home." He called me "mine." But his heart, his loyalty, his very essence belonged to Brianne. I was just a placeholder, a temporary solution to a problem I didn't even know existed.

The exhaustion of the past few days, the emotional whiplash, the betrayal – it all crashed down on me. My knees buckled. I stumbled, Miller catching me before I hit the cold concrete.

"Ms. Donaldson, are you alright?" he asked, his voice tinged with genuine concern.

I pushed him away, regaining my balance, refusing to be seen as weak. "Fine," I rasped, my voice sounding foreign. "Just... take me to my studio. And don't let anyone disturb me." I needed to disappear, to hide from the crushing weight of his betrayal.

I locked myself in my studio, the vibrant colors on my canvases mocking my inner turmoil. The rage, the humiliation, the sheer, agonizing pain of being so utterly insignificant in his life – it was too much. I paced, a caged animal, until the anger gave way to a chilling resolve. I wouldn't just leave him. I would ensure he regretted every single moment of this charade.

Suddenly, a loud, piercing alarm blared through the building, cutting through the silence. A fire alarm. Or something worse. My heart lurched. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Then, a sickening thud. A scream. From below. Above. Everywhere. A cacophony of chaos erupted.

I rushed to the window, my hands pressed against the glass. Below, in the garden courtyard, a figure lay crumpled on the pristine lawn. It was Brianne.

My blood ran cold. She had fallen. Or been pushed. The thought flashed through my mind: Karma. But it was immediately followed by a wave of unexpected horror. No. Not like this.

Before I could process the image, another sickening crack sounded. A large, ornate stone gargoyle from the penthouse terrace above us, dislodged by the commotion, plummeted. It was heading straight for me.

I froze, caught in the window frame, a deer in headlights. Time seemed to stretch, distorting. The last thing I saw before a blinding pain erupted in my head was Brianne's pale, unmoving form below. And then, darkness.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, a blurry landscape of fluorescent lights and hushed voices. Pain was a constant companion, a throbbing symphony in my head and a dull ache radiating through my body. The smell of antiseptic stung my nostrils. I was in a hospital. Of course.

Voices, distant and distorted, filtered through the haze.

"...severe head trauma...internal bleeding...fractured ribs..."

"...and Brianne Vincent? How is she?" It was Camden' s voice. Raw. Desperate.

"She's conscious, Mr. Winters. Stable, but sustained a broken leg and severe shock. Lucky to be alive. The fall was substantial."

"And Ashton?" His voice was flat, devoid of the frantic edge he used for Brianne.

"Ms. Donaldson is critical. The falling debris caused significant injury. We need to operate immediately on her head trauma. But... there's a complication." The doctor's voice was grim. "Her blood pressure is dropping dangerously. We can only prioritize one surgery at a time. The resources... they're stretched thin."

A heavy silence descended. My breath hitched, even in my semi-conscious state. One at a time. He had to choose.

"Mr. Winters," the doctor continued, his voice softer, "we need your decision. Who takes priority?"

The silence stretched, agonizing, suffocating. I held my breath, a tiny, foolish part of me hoping against hope. Would he choose his wife? The woman he had vowed to protect? Or his unforgettable love? The one he nearly died for just days ago?

"Brianne," Camden' s voice finally came, clear and unwavering, cutting through the silence like a knife. "Save Brianne first. She's... fragile. She's been through too much."

The words hit me like a physical blow, even through the fog of pain. My heart, already shattered, splintered into a million microscopic pieces. He chose her. Again. Even when I was dying, he chose her. My life, my very existence, was secondary. Always.

A bitter, humorless laugh bubbled up, but it died in my throat, choked by the tubes and monitors. Fragile? I thought, a ghost of a smile touching my lips. She's a master manipulator. And I'm the disposable one. The irony was a cruel joke. He called her fragile. I was the one bleeding out, clinging to life by a thread.

My eyes fluttered open for a brief moment. I saw him, standing by Brianne' s gurney, his hand clutching hers. His face was etched with concern, but all of it for her. None for me. His back was to me, literally turning his back on my dying body.

Fine, I thought, a cold acceptance settling deep within my soul. If that's what you want. Then I'll give you exactly what you want. The choice had been made. And in that moment of profound betrayal, I made a choice of my own. I would survive this. And then, I would disappear. For real this time. For good.

Darkness claimed me once more, this time with a grim determination.

Days later, I woke up properly. The pain in my head was still immense, a dull ache that radiated outwards, but the fog had lifted. My body felt heavy, weak, bandaged in multiple places. My left arm was in a sling. I was alive. Against his will, I was alive.

Camden was sitting by my bedside, in a sterile-looking chair that seemed too small for his imposing frame. He looked exhausted, his hair rumpled, his eyes bloodshot. He still wore the same expensive suit, albeit more wrinkled now. He must have just returned from Brianne's room. He was holding a small, white plastic cup, a spoonful of mashed fruit poised in front of Brianne's lips. No, wait. That was a memory. He was just sitting there, staring at his hands.

He looked up when he heard me stir, his head snapping towards me. A flicker of something, surprise? Relief? crossed his face. He pushed himself to his feet, walking over to my bed.

"Ashton," he said, his voice rough. "You're awake. How are you feeling?" He reached out, as if to touch my forehead, but I flinched away, my jaw rigid.

His hand dropped. He looked hurt, but I didn't care. "Don't," I snapped, my voice hoarse, weak, but filled with a simmering cold fury. "Don't pretend to care now."

"Ashton, I-"

"You chose her," I cut him off, my gaze burning into him. "You chose Brianne. You let me bleed out, Camden. You watched me die, and you chose her." The words were an accusation, a brand I pressed onto his soul.

He stiffened, his face closing off. The mask was back. "I didn't choose for you to die, Ashton. I chose to save the one who had the least chance of survival. Brianne's condition is far more critical, more delicate than yours. You're strong. I knew you'd make it."

"Strong?" I laughed, a bitter, broken sound. "Is that what you call it? Or is it just convenient? Convenient for you to assume I'd survive so you could rush to her side. Convenient for you to keep the drug flowing. Convenient for you to uphold your lie."

He was silent for a long moment, his eyes scanning my face, searching for something. But he wouldn't find it. The girl he knew was gone. Replaced by a hardened shell.

"I came back for you," he finally said, his voice lower, almost pleading. "I made sure you had the best surgeons. I' ve been here, Ashton. Since your surgery. I only left to check on Brianne, briefly."

"Briefly?" I scoffed. "You were there for days, weren't you? Wringing your hands, murmuring sweet nothings to your 'fragile' sweetheart. While I was fighting for my life, alone." I closed my eyes, a wave of weariness washing over me. "Don't bother, Camden. Your excuses mean nothing to me."

My eyes snapped open again. "Tell me, Camden," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "Is this why you married me? For her? For the drug? Was I just a means to an end, a convenient bridge to your true love?"

He was silent again. His silence was deafening. It was all the answer I needed.

"The merger," I continued, pushing myself up slightly, ignoring the searing pain in my ribs. "My father. He was in on it, wasn't he? Another one of his 'strategic alliances.' He sold his daughter to save his company and to fund your eternal devotion to Brianne."

He finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "He knew. He approved."

A cold, hard rage settled in my chest, replacing the pain. My own father. The man who was supposed to protect me. He had orchestrated my betrayal, hand-in-hand with the man who had promised to love me.

"And Brianne," I pressed, my voice flat. "Did she know? Did she know you married me for her sake? Did she enjoy watching me play the fool, the 'wild child' you were so gallantly 'taming'?"

He hesitated, a clear sign of his guilt. "She... she was ill, Ashton. She was desperate. We both were."

"Desperate enough to manipulate me? To lie to me? To sacrifice me on the altar of your undying love?" My voice rose, raw with unshed tears. "You swore to me, Camden. You swore on our wedding day that there was no one else. No 'unforgettable love.' You looked me in the eye and you lied. You lied, and you let me believe I was actually building something real with you."

He took a step towards me, his hand reaching out. "Ashton, I know I made mistakes. I know I hurt you. But at the time, I truly believed it was the only way."

"The only way?" I echoed bitterly. "To destroy me? To make me question every single memory I had of us? To make me feel like a disposable object, just like my father always did?" I felt a terrifying wave of clarity. Every confusing emotion, every contradictory action from him, suddenly made sense. His distant politeness, his sudden bursts of possessiveness, his constant need to clean up my messes, not because he cared about me, but because I was a critical piece of his plan.

The tenderness he showed when he dressed my wound, the moment that had convinced me to say "yes"-it was all a calculated act. A means to an end. It wasn't about my pain. It was about controlling the piece of the puzzle that was me.

I looked at him, my eyes empty of anything but cold, hard resolve. "You broke me, Camden Winters. You and my father. You broke every single piece of trust I had left. So don't pretend you care now. Don't pretend you regret it."

"I do regret it, Ashton," he said, his voice strained. "More than you know."

But it was too late. The words were meaningless. The damage was done. My heart was dead. And I knew, with absolute certainty, what I had to do. I would leave. And this time, no one would stop me. He had ensured that I had nothing left to lose. And a woman with nothing to lose is the most dangerous kind of free.