Another me

My husband, the ruthless Don of the Parks family, made his choice.

When his mistress burst in screaming that her son was sick, Jackson didn't hesitate. He left me—his wife who had just been poisoned—pinned against the wall to die, rushing to comfort a child who wasn't even his blood.

That night, "Elena Parks" died in a fiery car crash.

I spent years rebuilding myself in France, hidden by Hamilton Nixon, a man who loved me in the shadows. I finally found peace. I finally felt free.

But Jackson found out the truth. He discovered the boy was another man's son and that his mistress had been drugging him. Instead of letting me go, his grief turned into a terrifying obsession.

He hunted me down, kidnapped me, and dragged me back to the estate that had been my prison.

I woke up tied to our marriage bed with silk ribbons.

"I'm building a garden," he whispered maniacally, stroking my hair as I struggled against the bonds. "Just like you wanted. We're going to be happy."

He thought kidnapping was a grand romantic gesture. He thought he could erase the abuse with a fresh coat of paint and forced proximity.

But he underestimated me. And he underestimated Hamilton.

After a violent rescue, I rose from the ashes not as his wife, but as a titan of industry.

Six months later, Jackson stormed the stage at my global summit. He knelt before me on live television, holding a ten-carat pink diamond, thinking he could buy my forgiveness.

"I'm ready to take you back," he announced to the world.

I looked at the man who had destroyed me, then at Hamilton, the man who had saved me.

I grabbed Hamilton's lapels and kissed him in front of millions.

"There is no 'us', Jackson," I told him into the microphone, watching his world shatter. "You are just haunting a graveyard."

Chapter 1

Elena POV

Jackson didn’t even come himself.

He sent his men to drag me back, like a runaway dog being returned to its kennel.

I had tried to negotiate through his Consigliere, demanding a separation, demanding my freedom. I thought I had leverage. I thought the secrets I held gave me power.

I was naïve.

In this world, power isn't held by those who know the truth; it belongs to the men holding the guns.

Two massive guards flanked me as I was shoved into the foyer of the Parks estate. The marble floor was just as cold and unyielding as I remembered, a mausoleum of lost dreams.

"Where is he?" I demanded, my voice raw from screaming.

Jackson descended the grand staircase. He looked impeccable, his suit tailored to perfection, not a hair out of place. But his eyes were wild, rimmed with sleepless red.

"You think you can leave me?"

His voice was low, a dangerous rumble that vibrated through the floorboards. "You think you can just walk away from the Parks family?"

"I have nothing left here, Jackson," I said, my chin trembling despite my best efforts to hold it high. "You took everything. My dignity. My marriage. My future."

He crossed the distance between us in three long strides, gripping my shoulders. His fingers dug into my flesh, possessive and bruising.

"I did what I had to do. For us. For the family."

"For us?" I laughed, a dry, brittle sound that hurt my throat. "There is no 'us'. There is you, and your ambition, and your... other family."

He flinched, a crack in his armor.

"Candida means nothing. She is a means to an end. You know the rules, Elena. The lineage must be secured."

"And I am just the barren vessel that failed you."

"No." He shook me, desperate now. "You are my soul. My conscience. I need you here. I need you to be the lady of this house. If you leave, the wolves will smell blood. They will think I am weak."

He pulled me into his chest, crushing me against him. I smelled his cologne—sandalwood and tobacco—a scent that used to make my knees weak. Now, it just made my stomach turn.

"Stay," he whispered into my hair. "I will make it up to you. I swear."

I stood rigid in his arms.

I remembered the annulment papers. I remembered the baby we never had. I remembered the lies. But I also felt the gun holstered under his jacket pressing against my ribs.

If I fought now, he would lock me in the tower. I needed space. I needed time.

"Okay," I lied. The word tasted like ash on my tongue.