CHAPTER TWO

The smell of bleach and medicine was the first thing I noticed. My eyes felt heavy, like they were glued shut. When I finally opened them, the ceiling was a flat, boring white.

Everything hurts. My ribs felt like they were on fire. My head throbbed with every heartbeat. I tried to move my hand, but it was taped to a thin tube.

"Don't move," a deep voice said.

I turned my head slowly. Theodore was sitting in a chair by the window. He wasn't looking at a phone or a book. He was just watching me. He looked powerful even while sitting still.

"Where is Mark?" I whispered. My throat felt like it was full of sand.

"Mark is celebrating," Theodore said. His voice was cold. "He told the police you fell because you were drunk. He is at home right now, throwing a party for his new 'family'."

The memory of the stairs came rushing back. I remembered the pain. I remembered the sound of my husband’s voice as he pushed me. I felt a tear run down my face, but I wiped it away. I didn't want to cry anymore.

"He thinks he took everything," I said.

Theodore stood up and walked to my bed. He placed a folder on my lap. "He took your house. He took your bank accounts. He even took your car. He thinks you are a beggar now."

I opened the folder. Inside was a legal document. It was the divorce settlement Mark had sent. He had offered me zero dollars. He had even tried to take the furniture I bought with my own savings.

"He doesn't know about Titan Group," I said, my voice getting stronger.

"No," Theodore replied. "He spent the morning calling your office. He wants a meeting with the 'Secret CEO' to save his dying shipping line. He has no idea he is begging the woman he threw down the stairs."

I looked at the divorce papers. Then I looked at Theodore. "Why are you helping me? You are his uncle. You are part of his family."

Theodore leaned in close. His eyes were dark and serious. "Mark is a fool. He is destroying the family name. And I have watched you for seven years, Evelyn.

 I saw who really ran that company. I don't like waste.

 And throwing away a woman like you is the biggest waste I have ever seen."

He pulled a gold pen from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Sign the papers," he said. "Let him think he won. While he celebrates his 'victory,' we will build your throne."

I took the pen. My fingers shook, but I signed my name in bold letters. I wasn't Mrs. Mark anymore. I was just Evelyn.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now," Theodore said, a small smile appearing on his face, "you get better. In two weeks, there is a business gala. Mark will be there. He expects to meet the CEO of Titan Group to sign a deal that will save his life."

I finished his thought. "And instead of a deal, he will find me."

"Exactly," Theodore said. "But you won't go there as his ex-wife. You will go there as my partner. I want the world to see what he lost."

I looked out the window at the city skyline, and somewhere out there, Mark was laughing with Sarah. 

He thought I was broken. He thought I was a ghost.

I felt a new kind of energy in my chest. It wasn't love, and it wasn't just anger. It was the fire of someone who had survived the fall.

"Theodore," I said, looking back at him. "I don't just want to win. I want to see him lose everything."

"Then we are on the same side," he said. He reached out and touched my hand. "Rest now, Auntie. We have a lot of work to do."

I closed my eyes. For the first time in seven years, I wasn't afraid of the future. I was the storm that was coming for Mark, and he didn't even have an umbrella.