Chapter 2

He promised to love me forever. He made a vow to stay with me through richer and poorer. But why did he do this to me? How did his feelings change so suddenly?

I didn't know how long I remained sitting and crying in front of the massive gates of what used to be my home. I tried to get Lucas' attention by banging on the gate several times but he wouldn’t come out. 

“Lucas, please!” I cried out loud. “I’ll do anything to give you children! Please don’t leave me here!"

But all I received was silence from him. I could hear him and Amy laughing inside and my heart churned with the thought of them eating the meal I prepared.

"L-Lucas, talk to me..."

After an unknown length of time, I got to my feet and had walked for a few paces before I realized I had forgotten all my belongings, contained in the suitcases. I went back for them, and wheeled them as I walked. I walked for an hour before it registered that I actually had no destination.

"Doesn't matter..." I muttered to myself, feeling completely drained and exhausted. It felt like a huge weight had fallen on me and it was crushing me with each passing second. 

Some passers-by shot me curious looks, whispered to themselves and hurried on. They probably thought I was crazy. Looking down at myself, I supposed I did look crazy. I was wearing a long sundress I usually wore at home.

The hem of the gown and my flip-flops were dirty, stained brown. I must have stepped into a puddle. The tears continuously ran down my cheeks without stopping.

I wondered idly where I would spend the night and realized that I didn’t want to wake up if I ever slept. 

I looked around, and caught sight of a pharmacy across the street. I ought to have some money in one of my handbags—if Lucas had packed them. It would be easy to go into the pharmacy, wrangle some sleeping pills from the pharmacist, go to another pharmacy and another till I had enough pills to overdose on. 

Then I could lie down somewhere, look up at the sky, and wait for the sleep I would never wake up from. 

I felt someone hit me from behind, jolting me from my thoughts. 

"Watch where you going," a man said irritably as he walked past me. “You don’t want to get robbed out here.”

I kept moving, knowing that I didn’t have the courage to end things just yet. My aimless wandering took me to a park miles away from my house. The park was deserted, and that was just what I needed. 

My body was all aches and pains as I slowly lowered myself onto the park bench. I sobbed as I gave way to my grief. Who would have thought that my perfect life could fall to pieces in just one day? 

During our three years of marriage, I had done everything to please Lucas, to make him happy. 

And Amy... she was more like a sister to me. But I was stupid, so stupid not to have suspected what was going on right under my nose. She and Lucas had become more close lately but I assumed it was just because we were friends. I also ignored Lucas' late night calls, secretive attitude and absence from home some days. I was too naïve to acknowledge everything. 

I swiftly lifted my head and brushed away my tears as the roar of approaching vehicles grew louder. A convoy of Escalades soon appeared. Contrary to my expectations of them speeding past, each one gradually came to a halt in front of me.

A burly man stepped out of the vehicle in front and opened the passenger door.

A tall, striking figure emerged—his curly dark hair and deep grey eyes commanding attention. His chiseled jaw and subtle smile accentuated his otherwise flawless features, though a scar across his eyebrow slightly marred his handsome face. To my surprise, he locked eyes with me, his piercing steel-grey gaze intense as he approached with the effortless, ingrained arrogance of the wealth.

"Hey," he said, coming to a stop by the bench and smiling down at me. 

I gawked at him, looked around. There was no one else in sight. 

"Are you... Were you talking to me?" I asked him, pointing myself.

"May I sit?" He sat without waiting for a reply. "You are wondering who I am. Well... I won't keep you wondering for long." He put out his hand. "Alexander Sterling..." His name sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn’t tell where I’d heard it from. 

When I didn't shake his hand, he put it back at his side and shrugged. 

"You've had a pretty rough day. I understand, Mrs. Florence Hilton."

I looked at him sharply. "How... How do you know my name?"

He gave me a half smile. "I know a lot of things... a lot. I especially know a lot of things about you. I even know you were going to be here, so far from home." I blinked in confusion. "You're hurt and angry," he continued. "I assure you that I have a solution to your problem and pain.”

I eyed him warily. “What solution?”

“Marriage. Marry me, Florence..."

I gasped, scrambled to my feet. "Is this some sort of joke, Mr. Steele?"

"Sterling," he corrected, getting to his feet as well. Was he out of his mind?

"Whatever. Look, I don't know what you're up to, how you know the things you know or who sent you, but I won't be made fun of. If you don't leave now, I'll..." I wasn't really sure what I would do when I looked over his shoulder and spotted his bodyguards; tall, dark, silent, watchful. The smallest of them was almost twice my size. "Just leave. Leave me alone here."

"I apologize," he said quietly. "It wasn't my intention to insult you or scare you. I'm just a man who is used to getting his way without having to mince words. Perhaps it was unwise of me to spring marriage on you so suddenly. You have questions. I have answers, but we can't talk here. Come with me to my offce and I promise that I will explain everything."

"I can't just go with you!" But at the same, I was curious to know who he was and why he wanted to marry me. 

He pointedly eyed my stained suitcases. "Did you have any particular place you were headed?"

After a moment's hesitation, I rose to my feet slowly and walked to his car. Alexander got in and we were off. All through the ride, he kept taking one call after the other. He was obviously a very busy man. 

The building which the car stopped in front of was impressive. It was a sleek, gleaming structure that seemed to pierce the clouds. 

"Please, come." He ordered and I followed him into the building, past an enormous lobby, up the elevators to the topmost flooor, and finally to a vast, imposing offce with glass windows and walls which commanded a view of the city. 

He waved me into a chair and pulled some documents to him, then asked, almost as an afterthought. “Do you want something to drink?"

I shook my head, anxious to get my answers.

"Let's get down to business then. My name, as I have said before is Alexander Sterling. I know this is not the best time but you may know me as your husband—ex husband's biggest rival."

The memories came into my head. I remembered Lucas yelling his name angrily over the phone and fuming with rage whenever he lost a business deal to him. Lucas despised him greatly and as I stole a glance at him, I wondered if it was a coincidence that he was interested in marrying me right after my divorce. 

"Really?" I pretended like I didn’t much about him. "So what do you want from me? You'll use me to bring him down?"

He smirked at me, seems enjoying our conversation. "My uncle just died. He had a company just as successful as my own. My uncle was kind, but firm, and his heart's cry was to see me hitched before he died. He didn't get his wish, but he'll still get it in a way. He left me the company on the sole condition that I get... a wife." He frowned, looked slightly irritated at the very idea. "I need to merge my company with his. When I do that, I'll be the most renowned, most successful billionaire... in the world perhaps. I can't let a little diffculty like having a wife stop me, so that is where you come in, Florence."

"H-How?" I asked, though I was beginning to get an idea of where he was going with this. 

"I'm offering you a contract marriage. You see, I've been keeping a very close eye on Lucas Hilton. I knew that he had been cheating on you with your best friend, and that he was planning to divorce you." The reminder of what Lucas had done had me clenching my fist. “He didn’t really keep his infidelity a secret but I was shocked to know he pulled the divorce papers today.”

I chuckled bitterly, pain and anger coursing through my body. “I guess that makes two of us. I actually made a reservation for a dinner date tomorrow.”

"I didn't mean to call up painful memories."

I shook my head at him. "That's not what I meant."

"Divorce Lucas, Florence. Marry me and get your revenge on him. He'll be half out of his mind when he found out that you married me. Our union will help crush him. When we get married, I'll let you live your life, and I'll live mine. We won't get in each other's way—We just have to stay married for only a year. And to top it all up, I'll give you fifty million dollars as compensation for helping me get the company."

A picture of Lucas and Amy's cruel faces came into my view. I thought about all the sacrifices I made in my marriage with Lucas. I thought about everything I’d done for Amy as my best friend and how they choose to repay me. They both deserved to be punished, to feel the heart wrenching pain I felt because of their betrayal. 

I slowly turned to Alexander, tears streaming down my eyes and a cold smile forming on my lips. I exhaled and wiped my tears.

“I’ll marry you, but on one condition..."

Alexander leaned back in his seat. "What do you want me to do?

“You’ll help me to destroy everything Lucas has built and take every penny from him, as well as my best friend."

He leaned forward and extended his hand. "I'll help you to destroy them. I promise."