Allison’s POV

I stared at the house like it was a stranger.

The same white pillars. The same manicured lawn. But nothing about it felt like home anymore. It never really had. Not even when Jayden kissed me in the hallway or whispered sweet things in my ear at 2 a.m. when we were both half-asleep and pretending this marriage wasn’t a ghost town.

Now, I was standing at the edge of its perfectly trimmed driveway with nothing but my phone, my purse, and the kind of ache that makes your stomach fold in on itself.

I didn’t knock.

I had a key. Still in my bag. I should’ve thrown it in the river last night, but here I was, turning it like a fool, stepping into a place that already smelled like someone else.

Vanilla. A faint floral scent. Cecilia.

Her perfume was in the air, clinging to everything like it had a right to.

Jayden was seated in the living room. Legs crossed. A glass of wine in his hand like it was the middle of some business dinner.

Cecilia stood by the fireplace in a silk robe. My robe. The one my grandmother gave me during our honeymoon. I felt the bitterness rise, but I swallowed it like poison.

“Well, look who finally found her way home,” she said, smirking without even trying to hide it.

Jayden didn’t say anything. He just nodded toward the folder on the coffee table like I was a client signing a deal.

“What is this?”

“Divorce papers,” Jayden said coolly. “Everything’s already filled in. You just need to sign.”

I didn’t move. My eyes dropped to the folder.

My chest squeezed. “Just like that?”

Cecilia laughed softly, stepping forward. “You embarrassed him in front of the entire city, Ally. The least you can do is exit with grace.”

I turned to Jayden. “You invited me.”

“I made a mistake,” he said, shrugging. “We all make them.”

“You made me your wife,” I hissed.

“That was four years ago. You were convenient back then.” His voice was calm, practiced. “Don’t take it so personally.”

I felt something crack inside me, but I didn’t flinch. I’d already bled everything out last night.

I walked to the table and flipped open the folder. The first page was what I expected — confirmation of dissolution, statements of agreement.

I signed every page, one by one, my hand moving before my heart could catch up.

I slammed the pen down on the table. “Happy now?”

Jayden didn’t answer. He just leaned back, satisfied. Cecilia stepped closer and kissed his cheek like this was all part of some romantic comedy where she got the prize.

I turned to leave, but then my gaze caught the last part of the paper. I stepped back and flipped to the last few pages again. Skimmed quickly, the legal jargon swimming before my eyes.

Until I saw it.

{Clause 17.

Transfer of Ownership. All assets acquired during the marriage, including personal gifts and inherited properties, fall under community property and are transferred to the primary spouse, Jayden Lace.}

I frowned. “Wait—what?”

Jayden didn’t move.

“What the hell is this?” My voice rose. I tapped the paragraph with trembling fingers. “You had me sign over my grandmother’s house?”

Jayden took another sip of wine. “It was part of the settlement.”

“That house doesn’t belong to you. It was passed down to me—”

“And it was part of your marital assets,” Cecilia cut in. “Which you just signed away.”

“No,” I said, flipping another page, heart hammering now. “No—what is this? Twenty million?”

Jayden finally looked at me. “You lived under my roof for four years. Private chefs. Cars. Designer clothes. The debt adds up.”

“That wasn’t a contract, that was a marriage!” I snapped.

“It was expensive,” he said flatly.

My throat went dry. The words blurred for a second. I gripped the edge of the table to keep from falling.

“You tricked me,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes. I couldn’t believe I had just fallen into their trap.

“You should’ve read the terms,” Cecilia said with a mock-pity pout. “But that’s the problem with girls like you — too emotional to think clearly.”

“You’ll regret this! I swear, I’ll make you!” I yelled, turning away before the tears could fall. I couldn’t let them see me in my vulnerable state.

I walked down the driveway, the sun biting into my skin, my pulse screaming behind my ears. I didn’t know where I was going. My phone was dead. My bank account was nearly empty. And I had nowhere left to stay. But my legs kept moving.

People stared as I passed, some whispered. I didn’t stop to hear. My heels scraped the sidewalk until I finally took them off and kept going barefoot, clutching the divorce papers to my chest like they meant something.

Clouds rolled in. Wind picked up. I barely noticed. I just kept moving.

I didn’t even realize how far I’d gone until I found a rusted bus stop on a quiet street and dropped onto the bench, legs aching.

The first raindrop hit my arm.

Then another.

Of course it would rain. Just like in every cliché heartbreak scene ever written.

I tilted my head up, letting it soak my face. The cold didn’t bother me. If anything, it helped numb the ache still clawing at my chest.

I sat there in the rain, doing nothing until the sound of tires on wet pavement slowed beside me.

A sleek, black car.

Tinted windows. Polished to a shine. Way too expensive to belong on this street.

I didn’t look. Not at first. Maybe it was someone else.

Then the passenger window rolled down.

And his voice cut through the rain.

“You always leave without saying goodbye?”

My head snapped up.

Leaning in the driver’s seat like the rain didn’t exist. Eyes the color of a storm-tossed ocean. Sharp suit. Sharper gaze. The stranger from the bar—only now, no shadows or haze to blur the details. He looked even more dangerous in daylight. Or maybe I was just seeing him clearly now.

“You,” I breathed, stunned. “How…?”

He pushed the door open and stepped out into the drizzle. It didn’t bother him. Nothing seemed to.

“You’re soaked,” he said, glancing at the way my dress clung to my body.

I didn’t answer. My mind was still catching up.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, slowly standing.

“You’re a hard woman to find when you don’t leave a name,” he said coolly. “But I like a challenge.”

I backed a step. “How did you find me?”

“Fate,” he said with a small, humorless smirk. “And a very good assistant.”

“I never asked you to find me.”

“No,” he said, his tone unreadable. “But you did leave me a note.”

I tensed.

Slade stepped closer, gaze locking on mine.

“Next time,” he said slowly, “if you’re going to walk out on someone after sleeping with them, maybe don’t insult their skills in writing.”

My cheeks flushed despite the rain.

“I didn’t mean—”

He raised a brow. “Didn’t mean to leave a stranger in bed with a couple twenties and a note that said, ‘Next time, do better’?”

“I was drunk. Angry. Heartbroken.”

“I figured out the last part,” he said. “Did a little digging.”

My heart froze. “You… what?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just studied me. The way my arms clutched the folder to my chest. The way my wet dress clung to my skin.

“I found out who you are. Allison Axel. Or should I say—Allison Lace.”

I swallowed hard. Who the hell was this man to have found out my identity which I had kept hidden for four years?

He nodded once. “Didn’t find out through the press. They don’t even know you existed. But I made calls. And now I know everything. About your marriage.”

I stiffened, but he wasn’t finished.

“I also know,” he continued, “that your ex-husband tried to sell off a chunk of a company that doesn’t belong to him. Or his father. Which is the real reason I came back to this city.”

My voice was tight. “You’re Jayden’s… uncle?” I had overheard Jayden speaking to his assistant a couple of weeks ago about acquiring his uncle’s company, but I had kept mute because I didn’t even understand a thing.

“Unfortunately.” He sighed like the word tasted sour. “Left Slade Corps in their hands when I went abroad. And recently, I found out Jayden’s been trying to reroute holdings under a fake subsidiary tied to his father’s name.”

I blinked. “So… last night. At the bar…”

“I’d just arrived in the city. Went to see a friend who owns the place. Wasn’t planning on drinking. Then I met you.” A smirked dance on his lips.

I stared at him. “And now?”

He looked at me for a long moment, as if weighing something behind those ocean-deep eyes. Then he stepped forward again.

“I want you to marry me.”

I recoiled, my eyes widening in shock. “What?”

“One year. Contractual. You’ll be compensated.”

“Are you insane?”

“You’re the only woman Jayden couldn’t publicly acknowledge. The one he buried for four years. And now, I want to put you where the world can’t look away.”

My fingers gripped my wey clothes. “I’m not a pawn.”

“No,” he said quietly. “You’re the queen he underestimated.”

The words knocked something loose inside me. A spark. A flicker of pride I hadn’t felt in weeks.

Without waiting for my response, he continued. “Jayden left you with nothing. I’ll help you get your revenge. I can give you your name back. Make you powerful again. For one year, all eyes will be on you. You’ll be untouchable.”

“And after that?”

“We walk away. You’ll be paid. And I’ll get my company back.” He stepped back and stared at his car. “The choice is yours. Enter that car and have everything you’ve ever wished for, or sit in this goddamned rain, drenched with nothing left in your name.”

My throat tightened as my gaze went from him to the car. I’d sworn I’d make Jayden and Cecilia pay. And to do that…

I stood up without a word and walked to the car. Turning to my side, I said aloud, “Aren’t you getting in? You’re gonna catch a cold.”

And with that, I entered the car.