Mark was everything to Alexa, and when he lost his job and mobility, she never left his side. She loved him, fought for him, and kept him from drowning in despair. Then, a powerful conglomerate gave Mark a second chance—paying for his surgery and making him rich. And just like that, he discarded the one person who had stood by him. "I'm saying we should get a divorce. I don't feel the connection anymore." Left with nothing, Alexa refused to break. She rose higher than ever, building an empire of her own. Now, Mark watches in regret, desperate to have her back. But will she ever let him in again?
View MoreALEXA
The phone screen burned into my eyes, the moans filling the quiet room like a sick joke.
“Oh yes, harder, Mark, please fuck me harder!”
My stomach twisted as I watched my husband thrust into another woman, her voice shamelessly calling out his name. The same name I had whispered in the dark when he was unconscious in that hospital bed, clinging to life. The name I had prayed over when I fought to bring him back.
And this was my reward? This betrayal—on the night of our fifth anniversary? On my birthday?
My fingers trembled as I gripped the phone tighter. A notification popped up, a fresh slap to my face.
"Do you like the birthday gift I sent you, dear sis?"
I didn’t need to check the sender. I could already see Ivy’s smug face in my mind, could hear the gloating in her voice.
"See? Just a flick of my finger and he comes running back. Don’t think your pathetic care ever mattered. To Mark, you’re just a poor nanny."
A poor nanny. A mocking smile curled my lips. That was what he called the five years I had spent by his side? The sleepless nights, the endless days nursing him back to health? I never expected love—our marriage had been sudden, born out of obligation rather than affection. But respect? I thought, at the very least, I had earned that.
How foolish of me.
Another message came through.
"Wait and see, he’ll divorce you soon and put his heir in my belly. If it weren’t for you, we would have had our happiness five years ago."
My blood ran cold. How dare she?
Five years ago, Mark had been on his way to their engagement party when tragedy struck. The accident left him in a coma, hanging on by a thread. And Ivy—his so-called love—didn’t even hesitate. She fled the country that very night.
She abandoned him.
But when Mark miraculously woke up a few months ago, she slithered back into his life, rewriting history as if she had never run away. And now, she dared to blame me?
I dialed her number, fury shaking my hands. The call went straight to voicemail. Coward. I switched to Mark’s number, only to realize—I didn’t even have it saved.
The bitter truth settled deep in my bones.
I was never really his wife, was I? Just a replacement. A convenient stand-in to keep the Ronaldo family’s honor intact. My father had begged me to take Ivy’s place, desperate to secure our family’s standing. And I—starved for his approval, for a shred of belonging—had agreed. I told myself it was for Mark, that I pitied him. But the truth was simpler.
I loved him.
I had loved him since childhood, long before Ivy ever entered the picture. And when I put that ring on my finger, a tiny, foolish part of me had hoped.
But hope had no place in this marriage.
Mark’s first words to me when he woke up had been ice-cold:
"Don’t expect love from me. You know who has my heart. You’ll only ever be my wife on paper."
I should have walked away then. But I stayed. And now, as I stared at the video of him with another woman, as I read my stepsister’s taunts, I realized—
This was my final humiliation.
I shut off the phone. My gaze landed on the birthday cake I had carefully prepared, the candles still unlit. Slowly, I struck a match, watching the flames flicker to life.
I whispered to the empty room, “Happy birthday, Alexa. And happy every day from now on.”
The candlelight danced before me, the wax melting away—just like the years I had wasted.
I took a breath and blew out the candle.
A door creaked open behind me.
I didn’t turn. I knew who it was.
The air shifted as Mark stepped inside, flicking on the lights. His presence swallowed the room, commanding as ever. He glanced around, his eyes landing on the untouched food on the table. Then he looked at me.
I waited for him to say something—anything. But he didn’t. His silence, the cold indifference in his blue eyes, said enough.
Then he turned, heading for the stairs.
Something inside me snapped.
Before I knew it, I was on my feet, my chair scraping loudly against the floor. “Aren’t you going to say anything to me?”
He stopped mid-step, his shoulders stiffening for the briefest moment before he turned to face me. His expression was unreadable, but the mild irritation in his eyes was unmistakable, as if I had interrupted something far more important than acknowledging the woman he had vowed to spend his life with.
“What’s there to say to you?” His voice was cold, devoid of even the smallest trace of warmth or guilt.
I swallowed, my fingers curling into fists at my sides. My nails bit into my palms, but the pain was nothing compared to the ache swelling in my chest.
“It’s our anniversary,” I said, my voice quieter than I intended. I forced myself to hold his gaze, even though the indifference in his eyes made my stomach churn. “And my birthday.”
Mark’s gaze flicked lazily to the dining table, where the untouched food sat growing cold. Then his eyes met mine again, just as empty as before.
“So?”
The single word cut through me like a blade, slicing away the last shred of hope I didn’t even realize I had been clinging to.
So?
That was all he had to say? Not a hint of acknowledgment, not even a pretense of care. Just a dismissive, thoughtless response, as if the significance of this day meant absolutely nothing to him.
A lump formed in my throat, my chest tightening with something I could no longer suppress. Pain. Anger. Humiliation. It all swirled together, suffocating me. But I refused to let it show.
I forced my shoulders back, my chin lifting slightly. If he wanted to pretend that I was nothing, then I would pretend that his words didn’t just shatter something inside me.
I had given him everything. And to him, I was still nothing.
Mark barely noticed my turmoil. He simply turned away. “I don’t have time for this.”
He started up the stairs.
“Wait,” I called out, my voice steady now.
He paused, his impatience clear.
“It seems I won’t be receiving a birthday present from you today.” I smiled, but it was bitter, hollow.
Mark frowned. He hated that look on my face—the look that said I had suffered for him. As if it wasn’t my choice to stay. As if I hadn’t benefited from this arrangement. He had given me the Ronaldo name, unlimited wealth. Wasn’t that enough?
I took a step forward. “Then how about I give you a gift instead?”
“Don’t bother,” he sighed. He was done with this conversation. Done with me.
But I wasn’t done.
“Listen, Mark Ronaldo.”
This time, my voice didn’t waver.
“It’s my anniversary present to you. Let’s divorce.”
MARKIt was now another long hours of waiting for Brent’s call whether or not the judge had ruled out the case or if it was going to become a full-blown court case.Way more than twenty-four hours and it was making me go mad.Unable to wait all by myself, I called Vector. After the private hearing, Vector had gone back to his apartment. The result would determine if we would be finally free or plunged into a deeper hole. I had thought that being alone in my mansion was the right thing to do; at least, it would give me private time to think about not just the case, but everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, and how to reshape my life.But it turned out to be a terrible mistake.Every beep and call made me jump in anxiety, thinking it was Brent and being dead worried about what the result might be, and then, I hadn’t been able to think about anything else other than the case.Vector picked up almost immediately.“Mark, I was just about to call you,” Vector said.“Why?
ALEXA“Oh my goodness!” Noelle opened her mouth in shock when I gave her the news.After signing the paper, I couldn’t wait any longer, especially when my dad said he needed to have a personal meeting with his lawyer.The city’s lawyers left almost immediately I signed the paper.“We will have the conversation in due time,” my dad had told me when I said I couldn’t wait.“We need to,” I told him firmly.I only signed it because of what he said. He still had a lot of explaining to do.“I will get in touch with you on how we can meet and have a deep conversation about it, and I will tell you everything,” he had said.“Okay, dad,” I had responded.But when I had turned to leave, he had stopped me.“Alexa?” He had called.“Yes, dad,” I had answered.“This is just to let you know that this isn’t a hidden affair, just in case you see it on the internet,” he had told me.“Even when it has not be officially finalized?” I had asked in shock.Then my dad had smiled thinly and said, “Your signat
IVY“What?!” I exploded in shock.Everything I knew happened in less than twenty-four hours, and my mum was talking about a press release.“What press statement?” I asked.I felt like I was going insane. I could barely contain my emotions and control myself. It was just like when Oscar died.It was happening to me again.I hurried into Mr. Silver’s bedroom.“What press statement?” I asked again.“Did you go to the court yesterday to testify?” My mum asked.“Yes…I did,” I answered. The words seemed to be coming out too fast, making me stutter in the process, or speak as though I had no idea of what I was saying.“Why did you?” She asked.She was deeply pained, but more than that, she was very upset with me.“Because…the detective…Detective Kent called me to come and testify for the private court hearing of the case,” I answered hastily.“And you didn’t bother to tell anyone?!” My mum exploded in anger, her voice hitting the roof.I took two steps back for fear of being attacked by her
IVYI wanted to tell my mum what I just found out, badly, but she was rarely available.“I need to tell someone,” I said to myself as I paced from one side of my bedroom to the other.I thought of calling Alexa since I didn’t have any friends, but I quickly changed my mind. She was the last person that I would ever call. I still hated her, and she never liked Oscar anyway. If she hadn’t pushed him away so badly, he would not have felt the need to attack her.She still had a fault in all this.I thought of calling Mark, but he would never want to speak with me.“Gosh, I can’t believe I ruined everything with Mark over false allegations,” I sobbed with regret.My mother was right. I shouldn’t have accused Mark that way, and seeing that he had been innocent all along made me feel even more terrible, because now, I had neither Oscar nor Mark.My head was spinning in different directions.If the judge rules in favor of Mark, investigations would still continue. They must find the killer,
ALEXA“What?!” I couldn’t believe what I just read. I looked up and all the men’s eyes were on me, and they weren’t obviously playing. This wasn’t a damn prank or some silly games.They were serious.“My dad is handing the company over to me?” I asked in shock.“As his rightful heir, yes,” my dad’s lawyer stated.“What?” I exclaimed in shock. “Why would he do that?” I asked.“Because Mr. Silver is taking an early retirement, Alexa,” one of the city’s lawyers answered.“I still don’t understand. He just said that he is not sick, so what in God’s name is going on here?” I asked furiously.“He doesn’t have to be sick, dying, or even dead to hand over the company to you,” another lawyer explained. “You have always been the next in line, and Mr. Silver has refused to make changes to that, so here you are,” he added.The paper shook as my hand trembled.This was a lot to take in, and definitely not what I was expecting. Not that I had a particular thing in mind that I was expecting follow
ALEXAThankfully, the boardroom hadn’t been changed, but then again, over the years, nothing much seemed to have changed, and it broke my heart.“Why didn’t dad do some work on this company?” I asked myself as I made my way to the boardroom.He had dreams of growing the company and taking it to greater heights. We talked about it countless times when I still used to be his little princess. It was like a dream between father and daughter. I understood that it wasn’t very easy, being that he wasn’t getting the connections he needed, but still, lots of years had gone by.This was far the least of what I expected.I knocked gently when I got to the boardroom and the door was immediately opened to me.It was one of the city’s lawyers. I recognized him immediately because he still worked at the city’s high court and he had been working there for long.I became concerned immediately.“Ah, Alexa, finally, you are here,” he stated as he stepped aside for me to get into the boardroom.“What is
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