Chapter 5
896words
"Felix." I finally broke the silence.
"What we had died a year ago. You can't have everything you want."
"Sign the divorce papers and you can be with Mina without hiding."
"Yes! Thank you, sister!" Mina jumped in eagerly. "I wish you all the happiness in the world!"
Mina's face brightened instantly, not even waiting for Felix's input before celebrating.
Felix's expression darkened with disgust, his patience for her clearly exhausted.
He jerked his chin toward his men. "Get her out of my sight."
Two burly men grabbed Mina by the arms and hauled her toward the door.
She thrashed wildly, her eyes bulging with rage as she spat venom at Felix.
"You stupid bastard! She's playing you like a fiddle!"
"That shipment Chen stole when Zhou betrayed you? It all went to her precious Simon! You had no fucking clue, did you?!"
Felix whirled around, seizing Mina's jaw in a bruising grip. "What did you just say?"
"Allow me to clarify," Simon stepped forward.
He moved smoothly, placing himself between Felix and me.
"One of your people approached Chen, offering information about your shipment schedule."
"Chen didn't have the resources to handle it alone, so he brought me in. I fronted the cash for the operation, and we split the profits."
"But Sophia had absolutely nothing to do with any of it."
He arched an eyebrow at Mina, whose face had drained of all color.
"I should really thank you, though, sweetheart!"
"Having your own country bumpkin brother act as the go-between? And thinking no one would trace it back to you? That's a special kind of stupid!"
The men around the room exchanged glances, snickers and coughs poorly disguising their amusement.
Felix's face cycled through colors—red, white, then ashen gray.
He snapped, delivering a savage kick to Mina's midsection. "GET OUT!"
Mina crumpled to the floor, unconscious from the blow.
I watched the scene with detached contempt.
Felix hadn't changed—claiming ownership of people until they no longer served his purpose, then discarding them like trash.
He would never change.
I glanced at Simon standing protectively beside me, my heart swelling with gratitude.
Years ago, when I'd betrayed my mercenary brotherhood to run away with Felix, every assassin in the organization had hunted us.
Simon had been my closest friend since childhood, knowing my every habit and pattern.
He was the only one who'd tracked us to that crumbling building.
And he'd let us go.
He'd thrown a flash-bang, saying if we survived, he'd wash his hands of us.
But he'd stepped in front of me at the last second.
And I, fool that I was, had only thought to shield Felix.
Simon had taken the worst of the blast, while I'd escaped with minor cuts.
The cross had been baptized in both our blood that day, giving the diamond its crimson glow.
He'd always been like that—stepping between me and danger without hesitation, even when the threat was minimal.
Even when I'd never given him a second thought.
But never again. I wouldn't let him take another hit for me, and from now on, he'd be the only man in my world.
I reached for Simon's hand, deliberately ignoring Felix's increasingly desperate glare.
"Simon, I think we're done here. Let's go."
I never imagined Felix, cornered and desperate, would go so far.
Our car had barely left the parking lot when a van slammed into us head-on.
I woke up in a hospital bed, disoriented and alone.
"Finally awake, I see."
Felix's voice slithered from the shadows. I turned to see his silhouette by the window.
"Where's Simon?" I demanded.
"You really do care for him, don't you?"
His lips twisted into an ugly approximation of a smile.
"If you want him to stay breathing, you'll agree to my terms."
My pulse quickened as I scanned the room, discreetly clenching my fist beneath the sheets.
"First, tell your boyfriend to back off my business interests."
I nodded once.
"Second, you come home. Where you belong."
When I didn't respond, he added hastily: "I've dealt with Mina. That cheap dancer will be working in an underground club by the end of the week!"
"You know me—I'm a perfectionist. I can't accept a failed marriage. Let's forget the divorce, okay?"
This was as close to begging as Felix Foster would ever come.
But I was beyond caring.
I'd seen through his perfectionist facade to the petty, vain creature beneath.
I pretended to consider, then nodded slowly. "Alright."
His face lit up with triumphant glee, like a child who'd gotten away with something.
I offered a weak smile. "I'm stiff from lying here. Help me sit up?"
He rushed to my side, eager to please.
The instant his hands touched me, I yanked the IV from my hand and executed a perfect takedown, pinning him to the mattress.
"Felix," I hissed in his ear, "the divorce isn't about anger."
"When you chose to believe Mina's lies over me, we were already over."
He glared up at me, mouth working silently.
I trussed him up with the bedsheets like a Christmas turkey and forced his men to release Simon.
Then we drove to his headquarters and dumped him, still bound and gagged, at the main entrance during rush hour.
