Chapter 3

Jillian Andrews POV:

I didn't wait for Alex to come back. The moment the doctor discharged me, I called a cab and left the hospital, the flimsy gown scratching against my skin under my clothes. I didn't go home. I went straight to the downtown municipal building. My hands were shaking, but my purpose was a cold, hard line in my mind.

I was done playing their game.

I walked up to the counter for the clerk of court, the smell of old paper and stale coffee hanging in the air. "I need to file for divorce," I said, my voice flat.

The clerk, a woman with tired eyes and a kind smile, typed my name into her computer. She frowned. "Jillian Andrews and Alex Bradley... I'm not seeing a marriage license on file for you two."

"That's impossible," I said, a knot of confusion tightening in my gut. "We reconciled a year ago. We signed the papers."

"I have your original divorce decree from two years ago," she said, turning the screen toward me. "But there's no record of a remarriage. Are you sure you filed the paperwork?"

"My husband... he took care of it," I stammered, my mind flashing back to that day. Alex, smiling, sliding a crisp document across his desk for me to sign. He' d said he would handle the filing himself to "make it official."

The clerk' s kind smile turned to one of pity. "Ma'am, sometimes... people don't file them. Could I see your copy of the license?"

My blood ran cold. I fumbled in my purse for the ornate certificate Alex had given me, the one I had framed and placed on my nightstand. I handed it to her.

She examined it for a moment, her brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Andrews," she said gently. "This is a very good forgery. But it's not a legal document."

The world tilted on its axis. The fluorescent lights of the office seemed to hum with a malevolent energy. It wasn't just a game. It wasn't just a prank. My entire reconciliation, the foundation of the last year of my life, was a lie. Legally, I was nothing to him. I was just some woman living in his penthouse, a convenient prop for his cruel theater.

I stared at the fake certificate in my hand, the elegant calligraphy suddenly looking like a cruel mockery. My fingers tightened around the paper until my knuckles were white.

A laugh, dry and broken, escaped my lips. "Of course," I whispered to myself. "Of course it is."

I didn't need to file for divorce. I was already free. In the eyes of the law, I had never been his again. The realization was both devastating and strangely liberating. There was nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to save.

I walked out of the municipal building and into the harsh sunlight, a ghost in my own life.

When I got back to the penthouse, Alex was waiting, pacing the living room floor. He rushed over, his face a perfect picture of relieved fury.

"Jillian! Where have you been? I was worried sick!" he exclaimed, trying to wrap his arms around me.

I sidestepped him. "I needed some air."

"You should have waited for me," he said, his tone shifting to one of gentle admonishment. "You're not well." He softened his expression, taking my hand. "Look, I feel terrible about what happened. Let me make it up to you. The annual Foundation Gala is tonight. We'll go, get you a new dress, I'll buy you anything you want at the auction. It'll be our night."

I wanted to say no. I wanted to pack a bag and walk out that door forever. But the plan. The red circle on the calendar. I wasn't ready. Not yet.

He saw the hesitation in my eyes and his grip tightened, a subtle show of force. "We're going," he said, his voice no longer a suggestion.

The gala was a glittering sea of diamonds and champagne. And in the center of it all was Charlotte Burgess, a triumphant smirk on her face. She was wearing a breathtaking sapphire necklace-the Bradley Star. It lay against her collarbone like a royal decree, a public announcement of her victory.

Alex saw me looking. "Oh, that," he said, a little too quickly. "My grandmother insisted. It's just for tonight. A family thing. It means nothing."

I didn't bother to call him on the lie. I was tired. So incredibly tired.

The auction began. True to his word, Alex was performatively generous, bidding on a pair of diamond earrings for me, showering me with public affection. I could feel the envious stares of the women around us. If only they knew they were watching a public execution.

A strange sense of dread began to crawl up my spine. This was too easy. Too perfect.

Then, the final auction item was revealed: "The Heart of the Ocean," a magnificent, flawless blue diamond necklace that made even the Bradley Star look like a trinket. The opening bid was five million dollars.

Charlotte, from across the room, raised her paddle first.

Alex didn't hesitate. He raised his own. "Ten million," he called out, his voice ringing with confidence. He turned to me and winked, a dazzling, possessive smile on his face. "Only the best for my wife."

The room gasped. Charlotte's face tightened. She bid eleven.

"Twenty million," Alex said, without even blinking.

The crowd erupted in a frenzy of whispers. All eyes were on me, the woman whose husband would casually drop a fortune for her. I felt like an insect under a microscope, my skin crawling. I looked at Charlotte. There was no anger in her eyes. Only a cold, triumphant gleam.

I knew. It was a trap.

"Sold!" the auctioneer cried, his hammer falling with a deafening crack. "To Mr. Alex Bradley for twenty million dollars!"

Alex leaned over and kissed me, the applause of the room washing over us. "Happy anniversary," he whispered.

He stood up, ostensibly to go and arrange the payment. He squeezed my hand. "I'll be right back."

He walked toward the back of the ballroom and disappeared through a side door.

He never came back.

Ten minutes later, a stern-faced auction house manager approached our table. "Mrs. Bradley? We need to settle the payment for the necklace."

"My husband is handling it," I said, my voice shaking.

"Your husband left the premises five minutes ago, ma'am," he said, his tone dripping with disdain. "The bill is yours."

He slid a tablet in front of me. The number seemed to mock me: $20,000,000.

My blood turned to ice. I tried calling Alex. The call went straight to voicemail. I texted him. No reply.

The whispers in the room turned from envy to scorn. The manager's face hardened. "Ma'am, if you cannot pay, we will have to call security. And the police."

I was trapped. Humiliated. My own bank accounts had been systematically drained by Alex over the past year, under the guise of "joint investments." I had nothing. Nothing except the small portfolio of my own paintings I had managed to keep, and a pair of heirloom earrings from my grandmother.

"I... I can offer these as collateral," I stammered, my hands trembling as I took off the pearl earrings my grandmother had given me on my eighteenth birthday. It was all I had left of her.

The manager sneered, but took them. The story was all over social media before I even made it out the door. #BradleyBroke #AuctionScam. I was a laughingstock.

I stood on the curb outside the grand hotel, the city lights blurring through my tears, my phone buzzing incessantly with notifications from news alerts and cruel comments. The cold night air bit at my bare arms, but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything but the crushing weight of a humiliation so profound, so public, it felt like a physical death. The game was escalating. And I knew, with a terrifying certainty, that the worst was yet to come.