Burning His Empire For My Sister

copter for her dog. I called him, begging him to send his med

on Instagram. His mistress, Brooklyn, was posing with the helicopter, t

d after the car crash that followed, he rescued her f

but the final blow came from my lawyer. Our five

' m back. He built an empire on my back,

pte

ine Co

husband' s mistress needed

n a loop in my head. It' s the be

e steady, frantic beep of Kiera' s heart monitor was the only music

ans had said, his face grim. "We don' t have the

era. Her heart... it' s failing. They need to fly her to SF. Y

His voice, usually so commanding, was the lifeline

passed. Then si

my phone pressed to my ear. I called him again. A

here' s the helicopte

a' s fading

ax.

oice was rushed, annoyed. "Jo, I' m i

ed, my control finally snapping. "The helicopter i

le in the background, a sound so out of place it felt like a physic

is tone clipped. "A real emergency came up. I had to di

as cut. A notification on his end. He had

numb fingers and clatter

he frantic beeping from

a single, deafeni

that mea

seemed to stop, frozen in my chest.

me to a chair. Someone handed me my phone. My

here

re

Instagram story. A video,

ranian wearing a tiny, diamond-studded collar. Behind her, gleaming in the sun, was the helicopter. My helicopter

to be okay! A huge thank you to my hero, Jax, for sending his private jet

omew. H

te some c

' s heart

ashed through my body. I retched, but nothing ca

Past Jax - Husband. Past Mom. Past everyone I thought I could c

d always looked at me with more warmth than I thought I deserved.

d on the f

voice was calm, steady. The firs

ords. A strangled

shifting, becoming urgent. "Tell me w

the hospi

ifteen minutes," he

I couldn' t stay here. I couldn' t stay in

my voice raw. "Can you

nce. Not of hesitation

A new name, new documents, a safe place f

the word a prayer.

ne," he said.

agram again, a moth drawn to a flam

oop. Brooklyn, smiling tri

igure standing just behind Brooklyn. It was Jax. He was smiling, his arm w

ed happ

le the most important one in

om last summer, our arms slung around each other, laughing into the camera. Kiera, so full of life, her p

g his way out of the gutter. I was a music student, playing my cello in smoky bars to pay for Kie

ad been the seed money for his first real estate venture. I' d managed his

would become our first mansion, "I' ll build you a castle. A home f

le. But the home was

ily wa

nd Brooklyn burning into my eyelids. My fingers traced Kiera' s smiling face on the screen of my phone. The la

crushing me, suffocating me. I co

funeral home, the death certificate. The

lf scrolling through my message history with Jax. His replies had grown shor

m at our favorite restaurant for three hours. He' d texted me late that night:

mpagne glasses, clinking together against a backdrop of the Eiffel Tower at night. The man'

careless. It wasn' t just a

t cheated. He