CH.35

Serena cursed the day she ever fell for his charming facade and opened her heart to that vile, soulless man.

If only she could rewind time. The bitter consequences of their disastrous relationship was like a trap she couldn’t escape.

Jenkins sighed heavily. He ran a hand over his tired eyes, seeming to age before her very gaze. "They won't stop until you're utterly disgraced and discredited." Jenkins reiterated.

Serena felt fury bubble within her. She had always been a fighter, never one to back down from a challenge. However, this conspiracy seemed to transcend anything she could have imagined.

"What have I done to warrant such destruction?"

Jenkins shook his head slowly. "I don't have the answer to that. But I do know one thing – they won’t let you get away."

He rose and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Which is why sending you to an asylum is their goal. To silence you permanently under the guise of 'treatment'."

Serena recoiled from the chilling notion. More terrible than any jail term was to be imprisoned, drugged into submission, and have her voice and mind taken away from her.

"Over my dead body," she hissed vehemently. "I'll fight this until my last breath, Jenkins. My father didn't raise a coward."

The memory of her beloved father tightened her resolve. He had always believed in her, stood by her side no matter what society proclaimed. She wouldn't tarnish his legacy by admitting defeat now.

The ticking of the clock on the wall seemed to mock her predicament - a cruel timekeeper counting down to an unjust sentence.

Jenkins' phone buzzed at that very moment, piercing the tight silence like a dagger and he retrieved it from his suit pocket.

Serena watched with a furrowed brow as his eyes scanned over the incoming message, his expression unreadable.

[Move the plan forward.]

The message was terse, succinct, leaving no room for interpretation or argument.

Jenkins let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his closely cropped hair. "What if there was...another way out of this mess?" he said at last, fixing Serena with a long, pointed stare. "An alternative solution, one that could secure your freedom once and for all. Would you be willing to do anything to make that happen? Anything at all?"

Serena felt her breath catch in her throat at the undeniable gravity in his tone. After everything she had been through, every fresh hell this nightmare had dragged her into, the prospect of a clean slate was almost too tantalizing to be real.

"Anything to ensure that scoundrel is defeated for good," she replied without hesitation. "Anything at all."

Jenkins arched an eyebrow at her conviction. "Even selling your soul to the devil himself?"

The question was dense with unsaid meaning. Serena knew there would be a price to pay, potentially a hefty one. But she was committed now, the lure of vengeance and deliverance from her legal troubles too irresistible to ignore.

"Even that," she stated coldly.

Jenkins let out a weary sound from a man who had clearly seen too much of the world's darkness over his years. However, a muscle twitched in his jaw as he pulled an overstuffed manila envelope from his briefcase and scanned over its contents with an inscrutable expression.

"Very well," he muttered at last. "As you wish."

With no further preamble, he slid the envelope across the table toward Serena. It landed with a dull thud, seeming to reverberate through the stillness around them.

"What is this?" Serena asked, her curiosity piqued as she eyed the mysterious package with trepidation.

"Your ticket to freedom," Jenkins replied cryptically. "Open it."

Her fingers trembled ever so slightly as she pried open the sealed flap and pulled out the document inside - a sheaf of official-looking papers bound together by a silver clip. Her brow furrowed in perplexity while her eyes skimmed over the sentences.

"A marriage contract?" she asked incredulously, looking up to meet Jenkins' steady gaze. "Are you trying to make me commit bigamy on top of everything else?"

The corner of Jenkins' mouth twitched upward in a ghost of a smirk. "Not if your marriage to that jerk Montgomery is considered invalid from the start."

Serena opened her mouth to protest further but Jenkins held up a hand to silence her.

"Do you trust me, Serena?" he asked simply. "After everything, do you trust that I have your best interests at heart here?"

She stared at his concerned yet stoic face, searching for any hint of deception or ulterior motive. Yet there was nothing, just that same calm, unshakable confidence that had seen her through some of her darkest hours recently.

"Do I have anything left to lose at this point? I'm already doomed if we proceed with that sham trial. You can't possibly make this situation any worse than it already is." She replied with a resigned shrug.

The words tasted like bitter ash on her tongue, an admission of utter defeat. Still she knew she was well and truly backed into a corner with no other options.

Jenkins didn't respond for a few endless seconds. Then, seeming to make up his mind, he produced an expensive-looking pen from his breast pocket and handed it across the table.

"Here," he said gruffly. "Sign where indicated if you want that fresh start."

Serena's gaze dropped back down to the document, scanning over the paragraphs of dense legalese with a deepening frown. Oddly, all of the sections where her putative new husband's name should have been listed were blank.

She opened her mouth to comment on the strange omission, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the exhaustion rapidly seeping into her bones, or that nagging sense of having nothing left to lose. Or maybe she simply couldn't muster the energy to keep fighting against the relentless tide anymore.

With a sigh, Serena flipped through the pages until she reached the lines where her signature was required. She scratched out her name in a messy scrawl, not even bothering to read the fine print.

The heavy door to the private room opened with a creak at that precise moment, causing them both to start.

A towering figure filled the doorway, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit that likely cost more than her manager’s salary.

He had the look of a professional bodyguard, all rippling muscle and controlled intensity behind his mirrored sunglasses.

Without a word, the man strode forward and handed Jenkins a plain brown folder. Then he stretched out his other hand, his expression unreadable as he waited expectantly.

Jenkins slid the signed marriage contract in his waiting hand without hesitation.

The bodyguard snatched it up, gave a curt nod, and turned on his heel to leave as abruptly as he'd arrived.

Serena watched the bizarre exchange with a swirling torrent of conflicting emotions - confusion, trepidation, a sinking sense that she had just made an even worse catastrophic mistake by signing that document. But it was too late to cry over spilled milk now.

"We should head back to the courtroom," Jenkins stated, his voice cutting through her reverie as he snapped his briefcase closed with a crisp snap. "Time to set the record straight."

Serena looked up, feeling as though she were emerging from a fog. She smoothed her hands over the soft fabric of her outfit and straightened her posture, forcing herself to project an aura of regal composure despite the personal turmoil roiling just beneath the surface.

No matter how lost or off-kilter she felt, she had to maintain that polished veneer of unflappable dignity when facing her accusers and detractors. It was the only suit of armor she had left.

"Right," she replied with a slight incline of her chin. "Of course. Let's get this over with."