Chapter 3

Ayla Hudson POV:

Home. The word felt like a hollow echo, devoid of any meaning when it came from his lips. This island was my home now, in its raw, untamed beauty. Not the sterile mansion in New York, where every corner held a memory of his casual cruelty.

"Home?" I scoffed, pulling my arm away. "What home, Connor? The one where I played housemaid to you and your mistress? Or the one where I was your convenient public relations prop?" My voice was rough, edged with the two years of silence I had forced myself into. "What do you actually want me to do? Come back and polish your silver? Or perhaps babysit your new baby?"

The memories flashed, sharp and clear. As Connor's fiancée, I had been little more than a glorified servant. I fetched his coffee, arranged his endless social engagements, and, most humiliatingly, cleaned up after his late-night trysts with Ilene. I was the perfect, poised partner, always smiling, always agreeable, while my heart slowly bled out. I watched them laugh, watched them touch, then went about my duties, maintaining the perfect facade he demanded.

I glared at him, my eyes burning. He had no right to ask me to return to that nightmare.

Connor, surprisingly, looked genuinely exasperated. "Don't you ever think about anyone but yourself, Ayla? Do you know what I've been through? The time, the money we spent looking for you!" He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, his frustration palpable, yet entirely self-serving. "My family's reputation was in tatters. The press hounded us. They called me a monster, accused me of abandoning you at sea! Do you know what that did to our stock prices? To my standing in the company?" He paused, taking a breath. "And you? You're out here, playing fisherman, running away from your responsibilities!"

His words were so ridiculously self-centered, so utterly devoid of understanding, I almost laughed. Responsibility? He was talking about saving his own skin.

"I didn't 'run away'," I corrected, my voice dangerously low. "I was washed ashore. You left me for dead."

I turned my back on him, walking away from his self-serving narrative, towards the darkening edge of the island, towards the familiar, comforting roar of the ocean. He didn' t want me back because he cared. He wanted me back because I was a loose end, a stain on his perfect image.

I remembered the day the Foster family found me, a lost, terrified child, barely five years old, orphaned and traumatized after being trafficked and abandoned. They had taken me in, funded my education, molded me into the perfect society wife for their heir, Connor. It was never out of kindness, not truly. My tragic backstory, the "lost child saved by the philanthropic Fosters," had been a PR goldmine, boosting their corporate image, silencing whispers of their ruthless business practices. I was their hidden asset, their silent endorsement.

From a young age, I knew Ilene was the one Connor truly desired. His childhood friend, his confidante. But when she went abroad for college, he turned his attention to me. A convenient distraction, a placeholder. He would hold my hand, offer gentle words, and tell me I was beautiful. I, naive and desperate for love, had actually believed him. I thought he had fallen for me, that I had a place in his heart. The dream lasted until Ilene returned, radiant and sophisticated. That' s when my world shattered, again.

"This island, Connor," I declared, turning to face him, my voice firm, "this is my home now. My real home."

His face contorted in anger. "Don't be ridiculous, Ayla! You're being ungrateful! You belong with us!"