FLASH FORWARD

Blood. Everywhere. My wide eyes took in the sight of my trembling hands, which were covered in blood. I couldn't breathe. Tears flooded my vision. Panic surged through me, leaving a trail of dreadful chills in its wake.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I shuddered, taking desperate steps backward. I couldn't recognize the man before me. This is not the man I once loved.

No.

"Tera," His lips curled into a menacing smile, "You think you can just walk into my life, ruin it, shatter me, and walk off to be with another man as if nothing happened? I almost lost my life because of you, damn it!" He charged towards me as I whimpered, my back hitting the wall behind me.

"No, my love." He reached up, tracing his fingers down my cheek. The touch was both gentle and horrifyingly possessive. "You are mine," His thumb brushed my lower lip, the caress almost tender but loaded with a threat that made my stomach twist.

I could feel his breath against my skin, could smell the faint hint of cologne that lingered on his shirt. It brought back memories I wanted desperately to forget.

I felt my heart pounding faster now, my fear mingling with a terrible, residual longing that disgusted me.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath as I fought to keep my composure.

"You don't own me. You have to let me go!"

He kept grazing my cheek in an almost tender gesture, but his grip turned hard as he held my face, tilting my chin up so I couldn't look away. "That's where you're wrong, Tera. You'll always be mine. As long as I breathe, you'll never be free of me."

He leaned closer, his lips just an inch away from mine, "I. Will. Never. Sign. Those. Papers." He counted his words, and the look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know.

I would never be free of this man.

Not in this lifetime.

HOW IT ALL STARTED.

***

Chapter 1

TERA'S POV.

A tear fell from my large sapphire eyes, landing with a soft plop on the papers in front of me. My vision blurred, and my heart tightened in my chest.

After three years of being together, my husband, Logan, didn't even have the decency to serve me the divorce papers himself. He sent his mistress to do it.

"Why is it taking so long, Tera? You still want to cling to something that's long dead?" Latasha, Logan's mistress, mocked, her tone dripping with superiority.

"He says he doesn't want to see your ugly face anymore. Don't you get it? Sign the papers and be on your way. This house is no longer yours. I and…" she paused, rubbing her stomach lovingly, "…our baby will be moving in tomorrow."

That was all it took for me to break. For three years, Logan refused to have children with me, always saying he wasn't ready. And now, here was his mistress, carrying his child?

I picked up the pen from the dining table, my hands trembling slightly as I scribbled my signature on the papers. Just like that, I severed every tie binding me to Logan—my ex—husband.

But one thing's for sure—I will never forget this day. The day the man I loved with my entire life divorced me through his mistress.

***

"There is an emergency! Where the hell is the Doctor?" A man yelled as nurses swarmed around an unconscious man covered in a pool of blood.

There had been a ghastly motor accident, and the patient was in critical condition.

"Doctor! Doctor!" The urgency in the nurse's voice snapped me out of my daze. "There's an emergency!" she announced.

The word ‘emergency’ jolted me from my plush office chair, and I hurried out toward the emergency ward.

"What's the situation?" I asked, almost breathless.

This was my job—saving lives. It didn't matter that my own life was in pieces, that I had just signed my divorce papers last night. Here I was, doing my job as the all—famous Doctor Tera—one of the best in my field.

My name is known and respected all across Illinois. I'd never lost a patient before. As one of the top doctors at the renowned Varitas Hospital, I always had to stay on top of my game.

"He needs to be taken in for surgery immediately, Doctor. His internal organs are in bad shape. He's suffering from internal bleeding," the nurse said, giving me a quick breakdown of the patient's condition.

"Be specific, Kate," I urged her.

"He'll need an Aortic Dissection Repair."

My heart skipped a beat. That surgery was risky—extremely risky. It's a procedure to repair a tear in the aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart. A life—threatening condition.

"Have you contacted his family? Friends? A wife?" I asked, knowing we couldn't proceed without consent.

"We're still trying. His parents are in Washington, but they'll be here as soon as…" Kate trailed off as we reached the emergency ward.

I swung the door open, and chaos greeted me—blood on the floor, the medical team awaiting my orders. But I froze when my gaze landed on the figure lying on the bed.

My vision blurred with tears.

Pain. Shock. Anger. Hurt. All of it clouded my sense of reasoning.

"Logan?" His name escaped my lips like a prayer as if he could somehow hear me. A lone tear rolled down my cheek.

What was fate doing to me? How am I supposed to save the life of the man who had destroyed mine? This has to be some kind of a cruel joke.

"Doctor Tera! We're losing him!" One of the doctors shouted, pulling me back to reality.

I was disoriented, but I forced myself to stay calm. I'd just act normal. He was nothing but a stranger to me now.

"We can't perform the surgery without family consent," I said, my voice steady as I examined Logan, gluing my teeth together as I fought the burn in my eyes.

"He’ll die if we don’t operate in the next fifteen minutes, Tera,” another doctor pressed.

“What am I supposed to do? Lose my job and license?” I snapped, surprising everyone.

No one knew the man lying on that bed used to be my husband. If only they knew...

Looking at Logan—almost lifeless, at my mercy—my heart sank. Just yesterday, I was his wife. But today, I’m his ex—wife. Maybe if this had happened yesterday, I could’ve signed the consent papers myself and saved him.

But now? Now, I’m just a stranger to him. I can’t meddle in his life.

Logan’s body started convulsing.

“We’re losing him! Tera! Do something!” One of the nurses pleaded. “We’re going to lose him!”

Panic surged through me. No matter how much he’d hurt me, I couldn’t just let him die. I wasn’t that kind of person. No. I wasn't a monster.

“Get the papers. I’ll sign them,” I instructed the nurse.

They were relieved I made the call. Even though the surgery was risky, they trusted me. And they were certain that whoever Logan’s family were, they’d be grateful for the favor I just did them.

***

I stood at the entrance of the private ward where Logan lay, watching him with a heavy heart. The hurt was still fresh. Somehow, I wished things hadn’t gone so wrong between us.

I still loved him. I couldn’t deny that. I had been there for him when Latasha abandoned him four years ago. He almost died of a heart attack, and I was the one who held him through it all.

And now, Latasha had come back from God—knows—where, and Logan hadn’t even hesitated. He jumped right back into her arms—so much so that he divorced me without a second thought.

I wiped a tear that slipped from my eye.

Where was Latasha, anyway? Shouldn’t she be here by now? Unlike Logan’s parents, who were far away in another state, Latasha was in town. Hadn’t anyone called her about the accident?

Just as I turned to leave, I saw a small group approaching me.

At first, confusion set in as I tried to wrap my head around the scene. Why were the cops here? In the private ward, of all places? Were they here to arrest a sick person or what?

But then I noticed the familiar faces behind the policemen, all charging toward me.

And the next words I heard froze me in place.

“Arrest her! She tried to kill my fiancé!”