Chapter five.

Renna's POV

There are grand gestures, and then there are black cards.

It sat in the middle of my palm, bold and terrifying, my name etched across it; I turned it over like it might vanish if I stared too hard.

This wasn’t just plastic. It was access. To anything, literally everything.

And it was mine?

Landon had returned to the armchair by the window, slouched like he hadn't just pulled a big one on me.

“You’re serious about this marriage thing?” I finally asked, breaking the silence that had grown too heavy around us.

“Dead serious.”

“Is this supposed to be a buy out f*e?” I held up the card between two fingers.

He raised an eyebrow, finally looking at me. “Call it... a wedding gift. One with no strings, unless you want them.”

I snorted, amused by his effort to sound so professional when I know he's everything but that.

Gently, I set the card on the tray table like it might burn me if I held it any longer. My eyes shifted to the papers still on my lap. Marriage papers. So casual, so absurd.

"Are you sure you shouldn't find someone better? I don't think I fit." My voice was barely audible as I struggled to get it all out.

He suddenly sat up and fixed his gaze intently on me. "What's your definition of someone better."

I dragged my gaze to the floor, racking through my brain for a suitable answer to that.

"I... I don't know, maybe someone without a truckload of problems like myself, and certainly not a divorcee."

"Divorcee?" He chuckled dryly. "You weren't married to that man in the first place."

Something in his expression changed, gone was the smug, effortless charm. His face was serious now, almost soft.

“Hayes made you small,” he said. “Shrank you until you forgot who you were, the first time I saw you was at a gala two years ago, you stood at his side like a mannequin while he pretended you didn’t exist, but I watched you. I saw the way your hand curled into a fist when he laughed at you in front of those senators.. you hated it. You hated him.”

"And then you walked up to us and flirted with me, right in his presence." I spat and he laughed.

"He deserved a taste of his medicine." He shrugged.

"Why do you hate him so much though? I mean you're his uncle, but you hate him more than anyone."

I noticed his countenance changed a little, but he quickly concealed it with a smile. "I'm just having fun with my nephew."

That was such a white lie, and even his countenance proved it, this is more than just having fun, he was determined to ruin Hayes's life bit by bit, something has happened between those two, and Landon seemed to be out for revenge.

He suddenly suddenly walked towards me, reaching out and took the papers from my lap, smoothing the edges. “You don’t have to sign anything now,” he said. “But I won’t retract the offer.”

“And the card?”

“That’s yours either way.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”

“Because no one who’s suffered the way you have, should ever have to beg again.”

My heart jolted. It was the first time in weeks that I wanted to cry, not because I was in pain... but because someone, for once, saw the pieces I tried to hide.

“Thank you,” I whispered, unsure what else to say.

He nodded. “You’re welcome, kitten.”

I rolled my eyes. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

He shrugged in response. "Because it pisses you off?"

"Ugh! You're impossible." I rolled my eyes at him.

He chuckled, turning towards the door, then back at me. "I have to see doctor Adolphus, I'll be right back."

I nodded frantically, watching as he closed the door behind him.

It was only when the door clicked shut behind him that I realized how ragged my breath was.

I exhaled deeply, trying to steady the fast beat of my heart.

I should feel flattered right? With everything going on with Landon;

But instead, all I felt was…

Scared.

Because men like Landon don’t just give. They don’t offer unless it serves something bigger. And as much as I wanted to believe his intentions were about me, a part of me... the part that had been betrayed and discarded too many times, knew better.

This was about Hayes.

It had always been about Hayes.

And I... I was just another chess piece.

I leaned back slowly, resting my head on the pillow as my fingers toyed with the card, flipping it over and over between them. My thumb ran across the bold letters of my name again and again.

Was this what it felt like to be chosen? Or was this just what it felt like to be used, but wrapped in luxury this time?

My thoughts were spinning, and my stomach coiled like it could sense the chaos in my head.

Then suddenly, my phone buzzed.

A sharp jolt went through my body as my gaze landed on the caller ID.

Father.

I hadn’t heard from him since the day he kicked me out out of the house without a word of regret.

Why was he calling now?

I swallowed the knot in my throat and answered.

“Hello?”

There was a beat of silence, then the deep, gravelled voice that had once thundered through my childhood with both fury and terror.

“So it’s true.”

"W... What's true father?" I blinked rapidly.

“Nadia just told me,” he went on like I hadn’t spoken. “You’re already sleeping with some man? After barely signing your divorce papers today?”

I froze.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, Renna. You’re in the hospital, and the man is there playing husband. That’s what Nadia said.”

My jaw tightened. “You mean the same Nadia who was screwing my husband behind my back? That Nadia?”

I can't believe he couldn't muster the decency to acknowledge the fact that I was in a freaking hospital bed; my life has never held any value before him.

“You think dragging my name through the dirt with your harlotry is something I’ll tolerate? Just because I gave you my last name doesn’t mean I’ll let you tarnish it.”

I felt my mouth part, but no words came.

“I want nothing to do with whatever mess you’re creating for yourself,” he snapped. “You’ve embarrassed this family enough. Stay away from me, from this house, from Nadia and even Hayes, disassociate yourself completely.”

Click.

Just like that, he was gone.

My hand slowly lowered from my ear, my phone still clutched in my grip.

I sat there, blank.

Breathing; not breathing.

What the hell just happened?

He called me a harlot and disowned me, all over again.

I had thought... maybe he called to apologize. Maybe tell me I was still his daughter even if things went wrong.

But no.

My mistake was existing, loving the wrong man. Believing the wrong people.

A sharp burn rose in my chest, hot and rising behind my eyes. I blinked up at the ceiling, fighting it, but the tears came anyway.

I curled my knees closer, wrapped my arms around them, and let it out. Everything.

The betrayal. The abandonment. The ache.

I wasn’t crying over Hayes anymore.

I was crying for the girl who kept waiting to be loved by her father. For the sister who had been nothing but a weapon. For the woman who had spent too long believing she had to earn her place in the world.

There was nothing left. No family. No home. Nothing.

Except…

Landon.

I sniffled, wiping my face with the sleeve of my gown.

Then I sat up.

No more crying.

I reached over to the drawer beside my bed and pulled the papers from it, laying them across my lap.

I didn’t hesitate, this time as I signed the line with my name smoothly.

And just like that… I became Renna Campbell.

Again.

But this time, by choice.