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The Contract
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2026-01-24 19:36:14
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The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Truth
POV: ISLA (Flashback)I went to my parents' house the next morning.I don't know why. Maybe I needed to hear them deny it. Maybe I needed them to tell me Jaxon was lying, that I was their daughter, that I'd always been their daughter.Maybe I just needed someone to tell me I mattered to them.The house looked exactly the same as it always had. Big. Perfect. Cold. The kind of house that appeared in magazines but never felt like a home.I'd grown up here. Walked these halls. Ate at that dining table. Slept in the smallest bedroom at the back of the house while Vivian got the bigger bedroom.I'd always told myself it was because Vivian was younger. Because she needed more space. Because I didn't mind.Now I wondered if I'd known the truth all along and just refused to see it.I rang the doorbell. Our housekeeper, Maria, answered. She looked surprised to see me."Miss Isla? I didn't know you were visiting.""Are my parents home?""Yes, they're having breakfast in the…"I walked past her w
The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Contract
POV: JAXON (Flashback)I called my lawyers the same day."I need divorce papers drawn up immediately," I told Phil Edwards, the best divorce attorney in New York. "Standard terms. She gets a settlement. I keep everything else.""Everything?" Phil asked. "Mr. Romano, in New York state, marital assets are typically…""Everything," I repeated. "The penthouse. The company. All assets. She signs away any claim to Apex Technologies specifically. That's non-negotiable.""That's going to require her signature on some additional documents. If she fights this…""She won't fight it.""How can you be sure?"Because Isla never fought for anything. She just accepted whatever crumbs she was given and said thank you."Just draw up the papers," I said. "I want them ready by end of week.""Understood. And the settlement amount?"I thought about it. I wasn't cruel. Despite what Isla probably thought, I wasn't trying to leave her destitute."One million dollars. And the downtown condo I bought as an inve
The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Betrayal
POV: ISLA (Flashback)I forgot my wallet.Such a stupid, mundane thing. I'd made it all the way to the grocery store, filled half a cart with things I didn't really need, and realized I'd left my wallet on my dresser.So I went back home.If I hadn't forgotten that wallet, maybe I could have lived in denial a little longer. Maybe I could have pretended not to know what I already knew. Maybe I wouldn't have seen what I can never unsee.But I did go back.And my life shattered completely.The penthouse was supposed to be empty.Jaxon had said he was working late. Again. He'd left that morning without a word to me, without even looking at me. That was normal now. We existed in the same space like ghosts, never touching, never speaking unless absolutely necessary.I lived in my guest bedroom. He lived in his master suite. We shared a home but nothing else.So when I opened the front door and heard sounds coming from upstairs, my first thought was confusion. Had Jaxon come home early? Was
The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Confrontation that Wasn't
POV: JAXON (Flashback)Two months with Vivian, and I'd never felt more alive.It was reckless. Dangerous. Wrong on every level. I was cheating on my wife with her sister, sneaking around like a teenager, spending thousands on hotel rooms and gifts and keeping this secret.And I didn't care.For the first time since my father forced me into this marriage, I was doing something I actually wanted. Not because it was smart or strategic or good for business. Because it felt good. Because Vivian made me feel like a man instead of a machine.We met three, sometimes four times a week. Different hotels to avoid suspicion. Her apartment when I could get away for longer. Once, memorably, in my office at Apex after everyone had gone home. That had been Vivian's idea, she got a thrill out of the risk, the possibility of getting caught.I should have felt guilty. Should have thought about Isla at home, waiting for me, trying so hard to be enough.But I didn't think about her at all when I was with
The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Affair Begins
POV: ISLA (Flashback)Fourteen months into our marriage, I noticed something had changed in Jaxon.He was different. Not warmer, he'd never be warm with me. But he had this energy about him now. This lightness. He smiled at his phone. Hummed in the shower. Left the penthouse in the mornings with something that almost looked like happiness on his face.At first, I let myself hope it was because of me. Maybe he was finally adjusting to our marriage. Maybe the grief over the miscarriage had passed and he was ready to try again. Maybe, somehow, things were getting better.I was an idiot.The real signs were there if I'd been willing to see them. The way he'd check his phone constantly, then hide the screen when I walked by. The secretive calls he'd take on the balcony with the door closed. The nights he didn't come home at all, texting vague excuses about work emergencies or late meetings.But the worst part? He was happier without me.That's what hurt most. Not the cheating, I'd suspecte
The Wife He Forgot: Ashes to Empire The Gala
POV: JAXON (Flashback)The charity gala was the kind of event I usually hated.Too many people. Too much small talk. Too many investors and board members wanting a piece of my time, my attention, my success. But Apex Technologies was thriving, thanks to code I hadn't written and appearances mattered. My father had drilled that into me since childhood. Show up. Be seen. Play the game.So I showed up.Alone.I hadn't told Isla about the gala. Why would I? She'd just be uncomfortable, awkward, clinging to my arm like she was drowning. She'd wear something plain and spend the whole night looking at me with those sad, hopeful eyes. Eyes that made me feel trapped and guilty and angry all at once.Better to leave her at home.The ballroom was impressive. Crystal chandeliers. A string quartet playing something classical. Waiters gliding through the crowd with champagne and expensive hors d'oeuvres.I grabbed a drink and prepared for an evening of boring conversation and fake smiles.Then I sa
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