Chapter 2

The world around me spun, a dizzying kaleidoscope of white walls and muffled voices. My head throbbed, a dull ache that echoed the hollow emptiness in my chest. I opened my eyes, staring at the sterile ceiling, trying to piece together the fragments of what felt like a nightmare.

Keon. His face, vibrant and smiling, then pale and still. Amir. His arm around Hailie, his voice dismissive. The phone call. The silence.

My mind, a cruel tormentor, dragged me back five years.

I was twenty-seven then, a fledgling pediatric resident, drowning in debt and caffeine. My life was simple, messy, focused on saving tiny lives. He was Amir Carter, the tech mogul, already a legend. He was thirty-two, old enough to be established, young enough to still crave the thrill of starting fresh with a new "muse."

We met at a charity gala I was reluctantly attending for networking. I was serving hors d'oeuvres, feeling utterly out of place in my borrowed dress. My hands, usually steady and precise, trembled slightly as I offered a tray of canapés. I felt his gaze before I saw him. Intense, unsettling.

He moved through the crowd like a king, every head turning, every conversation pausing. When his eyes locked with mine, it felt like a spotlight had cut through the opulent ballroom. He smiled, a practiced, lethal charm that promised everything and nothing.

I knew who he was. The kind of man who collected women like trophies, polished them, then moved on. I told myself I was immune. I' d seen enough suffering to be cynical.

But he didn't approach me with a cheesy line. He just watched, a knowing glint in his eyes. Then, hours later, as I was slipping out, tired and ready for my next shift, he appeared.

"Dr. Franklin, I presume?" His voice was a smooth baritone, deep and confident. "Amir Carter."

He offered his hand. His touch was warm, firm. And just like that, the whirlwind began.

He pursued me with a ferocity that left me breathless. A private jet appeared to whisk me away for a weekend in Paris, just because I'd mumbled something about wanting to see the Louvre. My small apartment was transformed into a floral wonderland, a new bouquet arriving every morning, not in vases, but spilling from every surface. He remembered innocuous details from our first conversation and used them to craft elaborate, personalized gestures. He sent me to medical workshops in Switzerland, not for his gain, but "because you deserve the best."

The media went wild. "Amir Carter, the notorious playboy, tamed by a doctor?" My colleagues, my family, everyone thought I was a miracle worker. His own sister, Jacqueline, the ice-cold COO of his empire, eyed me with thinly veiled suspicion. I once overheard her telling him, "She's not one of us, Amir. This will end badly."

But he defended me. Fiercely. He threatened to cut off his inheritance, to step down from the board, all for me. He made me believe I was worth fighting for, that I was the one who could make him change. On our wedding day, he looked into my eyes, his voice clear and unwavering as he promised me forever. I believed him. I truly did.

For five years, he upheld that promise. Every anniversary, a custom-made piece of jewelry, subtly engraved with a date or a word significant only to us. He was a doting husband, a generous partner. I had forgotten the man he was, blinded by the man he pretended to be.

Then Keon got sick again. His heart, already weak, was failing rapidly. The nightmare had returned.

Amir, once again, stepped in. His network was vast, his determination seemingly boundless. He flew in specialists, funded experimental treatments. He found Hailie. He even began to financially support her and her family, ensuring she had no burdens, "so she could focus on Keon and the decision."

"She's young, Blake," he' d explained, his hand on my arm, "and this is overwhelming for her. We need to make sure she feels supported emotionally and financially. It' s for Keon, darling."

I nodded, grateful, foolishly believing his intentions were pure. But then the little things started. The late-night calls. The "mentoring sessions" that stretched into the early hours. The expensive gifts he' d buy for Hailie, objects far more lavish than anything I' d received recently.

He cancelled our dinner plans, saying Hailie was having a "creative crisis" and needed his guidance. He showed up late, distracted, his phone constantly buzzing with messages from her.

A cold dread began to creep in. I felt it, the familiar pattern. But I pushed it down, hard. I confronted him once, gently. "Amir, you're spending a lot of time with Hailie. Are you sure it's appropriate?"

He looked at me, his eyes wide and innocent. "Blake, how can you even think that? This is about Keon! His life depends on her. Are you really that insecure, that selfish, to question my motives when your brother is dying?"

Shame burned my cheeks. He always knew how to twist my guilt against me. I apologized, retreating into myself, burying the gnawing suspicion. He was right. I was being selfish. Keon needed me to be strong.

But a memory resurfaced, a casual comment he'd made years ago, before we were married. "I've always been drawn to potential, Blake. To young, raw talent. There's something intoxicating about molding something beautiful from nothing."

He hadn't stopped. He had just paused. And I, in my naive love, had convinced myself I was the grand finale, not just a longer, more elaborate act in his endless play. I was just another season.

My eyes snapped open again, the hospital room still, silent. The memory was a fresh wound, bleeding into the present. I was in a hospital bed, the faint scent of antiseptic in the air. Keon.

My brother was truly gone. The emptiness in my chest was a black hole, sucking away all light, all hope.

Amir hadn't even shown up. Not after the phone call, not after I'd collapsed. My phone was on the bedside table. I picked it up, my fingers shaking, and scrolled through the news. There it was: a picture of Amir, beaming, his arm around a radiant Hailie, at a private recording studio. The caption read: "Tech Mogul Amir Carter Nurtures New Talent, Hailie Snider Set to Soar."

Then a text from him popped up. "Hey, babe. Hailie's feeling much better. Going on a much-needed retreat to the Maldives to clear her head before her debut. You should come join us! It'll do you good to get away. Oh, and how' s Keon doing? Any progress on the donor front?"

The words punched the air out of my lungs. He didn't know. He still didn't know about Keon. His "much-needed retreat" with Hailie was scheduled for the very day Keon died. He killed my brother. His obsession, his self-serving "mentorship," his callous disregard for anyone but himself and his current muse, had killed Keon.

A cold, hard resolve crystallized in my heart, harder than any diamond he'd ever given me. The fairy tale was over. No more crying. No more pleading. No more playing the dutiful wife. He had taken everything. Now, I would take back what was mine.

I reached for my phone, my fingers steady this time. The first call was to Jacqueline Carter.

"I want a divorce," I stated, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "And I want it quietly. Quickly."

Jacqueline, ever pragmatic, didn't ask questions. "Consider it done. I'll have the papers drawn up. Where can we send the settlement?"

"Just the divorce papers," I said. "I don't want a penny of his money."

The phone clicked. It was over. But it was also just the beginning.