Chapter 2

VICTORIA

The phone kept ringing. My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe. Finally, I pressed the green button and lifted it to my ear.

“Hello?” My cracked voice came out too small.

There was silence. Then I heard just a faint sound, like someone breathing on the other end.

“Who is this?” I asked again, wiping my eyes.

Still, there was nothing. Then the call ended.

I stared at the screen until it went dark. Isabella leaned forward from where she sat. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “They didn’t say anything.”

“Creepy,” she muttered. “Block the number.”

I nodded, but my fingers didn’t move. For some reason, I couldn’t.

When I finally lay down that night, I didn’t sleep. My head replayed everything: the slap, the divorce papers, the way he’d looked at me like I was nothing. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face again and again.

When morning rolled by, I felt really numb. I sat on Isabella’s couch, still in the same clothes from last night, just staring at the wall. The light from the windows spilled in, but I didn’t move. Isabella came in holding two mugs of coffee. She looked tired too.

“You didn’t sleep,” she said softly, sitting beside me.

I shook my head. “He said he just used me,” I whispered. “For my money and the effort I put into his company. He never loved me…” My voice broke.

She sighed. “He’s an idiot, Vic. A cruel one.”

I didn’t answer. I wrapped my fingers around the warm mug. “Do you know what hurts the most?”

“What?”

“That I believed him when he said he didn’t want kids yet. After the miscarriage, I thought maybe he was scared. But it was all a lie.”

She reached out and squeezed my hand. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for that.”

I looked at her, and my voice shook when I spoke again. “He pushed me down those stairs, Izzy. We were fighting, and I said I was leaving. He grabbed my arm, I pulled away, and then—” My breath hitched. “He said it was my fault. And I believed him.”

Her eyes softened. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

But my mind kept spinning. I remembered how he made me give up my fashion line which was the one thing that was truly mine. He said it wasn’t “a wife’s place” to work. My father didn’t stop him. My stepmother said it was for the best. And Diana? She just smirked in approval.

I laughed bitterly. “You know, they always made me feel like I was the problem. My dad, Margaret, Diana, and Jason… I was never enough for them. Maybe Trent was right to think I was useless.”

“Don’t say that,” Isabella snapped. “He broke you on purpose so you’d believe that.”

I didn’t argue. I couldn’t summon the energy to.

***

The next morning, Isabella drove me to Trent’s office so I could sign the papers. She kept trying to talk me out of it.

“You can fight him,” she said. “You built that company with your own money. You deserve your share.”

I just stared out the window. “He’s already won, Izzy.”

When we got there, the lobby was filled with his employees. They all looked at me like I didn’t belong. Like I was an intruder that had never belonged.

Trent’s lawyer handed me the papers. “Just sign at the bottom,” he said without looking up.

My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the pen. I could feel Trent’s eyes on me from across the room, watching like this was just another business deal.

I didn’t get any alimony, assets, or shares. Not even the house I had turned into a home. I was giving up everything.

When I finally signed, he smiled. “Good,” he said under his breath.

That broke me. I dropped the pen and stood up quickly, even though my eyes were filling up with tears. “I hope you choke on your empire,” I said.

He didn’t even flinch. “You’ll never survive without me, Victoria.”

I didn’t answer. I just walked out.

***

The next few days passed like a blur. I stayed with Isabella, though I was barely speaking. She tried to cheer me up, cooking breakfast and making jokes, but nothing ever worked.

One night she walked in holding her phone. “Everyone’s talking about Trent and Diana. Their engagement photos are everywhere.”

I forced myself to smile. “Good for them.”

She frowned. “You don’t mean that.”

“I don’t,” I admitted. “But pretending helps.”

After she went to bed, I sat alone on the couch, staring at my phone again. I hadn’t blocked that unknown number.

I didn’t know why, but some part of me wanted whoever it was to call again.

And they did.

The screen lit up with that same private number soon after that. My hands trembled as I answered.

“Hello?”

A man’s voice came through this time sounding deep, calm, and confident. “Is this Victoria Hale?”

I froze. “Who’s asking?”

“This is Clark Sterling,” he said. “I know what Trent did to you.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

“I know about the marriage, the money, and everything he took from you. You were the one who built Rhodes Enterprises, not him.”

I sat up straight. “How do you know that?”

He gave a short laugh. “Let’s just say I do my research. I’ve been following Trent’s business moves for a while. He’s not as clean as he looks.”

I frowned, not sure whether to believe him. “Why are you calling me?”

“Because I think you deserve a lot more than what he left you with.”

My chest tightened. “I don’t even know you.”

“You don’t have to,” he said easily. “Just meet me tomorrow. I can help you start over again.”

Start over again. The words hit something deep in me. I hadn’t thought about starting over. I didn’t even know where to actually begin.

“Why would you help me?” I asked quietly.

There was a short pause, then his tone turned colder. “Because I hate Trent Rhodes just as much as you do,” he replied.

Before I could say anything else, the line went dead.

I stared at the phone in confusion while replaying his name in my head. Clark Sterling.

I’d heard it before. He was one of Trent’s biggest business rivals.

Isabella came out of her room rubbing her eyes. “Who was that?”

“I think…” I looked at her. “It was Clark Sterling.”

Her brows shot up instantly. “The Clark Sterling? The billionaire who owns Sterling Group?”

“Yeah.” I still couldn’t believe it. “He said he could help me start over again.”

She crossed her arms. “And you believe him?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But he sounded serious.”

“Vic, be careful. Men like that don’t help people out of kindness.”

I smiled bitterly. “I don’t have anything left for him to take.”

That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about his voice. He’d sounded calm, absolutely nothing like Trent. And his words… the way he said I built that company. No one had ever said that to me before.

Just before midnight, my phone buzzed again. I thought it was him calling, but this time it was an email.

Subject: *Tomorrow.*

The sender: *Clark Sterling.*

I hesitated before opening it. Inside was just one sentence: *Thought you might want these back.*

Attached were several photos.

When I clicked on the first one, my heart almost stopped.

They were my old fashion sketches. The same ones Trent had made me burn before our wedding.

I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand.

“Vic?” Isabella called sleepily from her room. “You okay?”

I couldn’t even answer. I just stared at the screen while my heart raced.

Clark Sterling somehow had my destroyed sketches. The ones I thought were gone forever.

My phone slipped from my hand as I whispered, “How the hell did he get these?”