I was alone in a hospital bed, my body burning with pain after emergency surgery, when I dialed my husband’s number for the tenth time. No answer. Just the cold, mechanical voice telling me the subscriber could not be connected. I was Allison Bolton.
My husband was President Nolan Reed, the most powerful man in the country. And as I lay there, the nurse asked me for a signature on the surgery consent form because my emergency contact had not arrived. “He’s busy,” I said. I kept calling.
And then I saw it with my own eyes. A live news feed showed Nolan gently guiding another woman into a prenatal clinic. He was holding her hand, speaking softly. “Don’t be nervous, Holly.
I’m here. ”
That woman was Holly Pierson. My husband’s mistress. The world crumbled beneath me.
I dragged myself through the surgery and returned to the presidential residence late that night. What waited for me was not an apology. It was a set of divorce papers placed on the table. “Sign them,” Nolan said.
“Holly is pregnant. Step aside for now. After the baby is born, we’ll talk. ”
I stared at him.
Three years of standing by him through his lowest moments, fighting for him, helping him rise to the presidency—it all felt like a sick joke. “I stood by you through everything. And now you ask me to step aside for your mistress? ”
“Allison, don’t make this difficult for me.
”
I looked at the pen. I picked it up. And I signed, because I finally understood that holding onto a man who did not love me was pointless. He slid a bank card toward me as compensation.
I threw it in the trash. “We’re done. From this moment, there is nothing left between us. ”
The second those words left my mouth, I heard high heels clicking outside.
Holly walked in like she already owned the place. “Sorry to interrupt, but Nolan wouldn’t let me stay alone. ”
“You’re not welcome here. ”
“Very soon, I’ll be the woman standing beside him.
” She smiled, smug and cruel. “Three years by Nolan’s side, and in the end, you still get pushed out. ”
Her words were meant to break me. Instead, they lit a fire I didn’t know I had.
I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face. “Nolan! ” she shrieked. Nolan rushed over and shielded her.
“Allison, have you lost your mind? ”
“Yes. You drove me here. ”
I watched him wrap his arms around that woman, and the last light in my eyes went out.
The man I married was truly gone. I stopped arguing. I stopped crying. I straightened my back and walked out.
Outside, rain crashed down. I walked straight into it alone, feverish, with a fresh wound and nowhere to go. My whole body was cold, and the road ahead blurred. But I kept walking because I no longer had a home.
“Allison! ”
I heard Derek Flynn call my name. He was Nolan’s most trusted vice president. My knees buckled, and I thought I was about to hit the ground.
But someone caught me. A long black sedan screeched to a stop through the rain. A commanding man rushed out. “Move.
”
He gathered me into his arms, trembling like he had found something precious he had lost a long time ago. “I’m Simon Lawson, Crown Prince of Flesedia,” he said. “She’s my dear sister, missing for twenty years. ”
I heard those words right before my consciousness slipped away.
For the first time in my life, someone was furious because of me. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a luxurious hospital room. “You’re awake. ” Simon placed a DNA report beside my hand, then took out a yellowed family photo.
“You’re the princess of Flesedia, missing for twenty years. I’m your brother. ”
“That’s impossible. ”
“We searched for you for years.
Our parents never gave up. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that alone. ”
He held his phone out to me. “I just transferred a billion dollars to your account.
Spend it however you like. If it’s not enough, tell me. ”
In three years at the presidential residence, I never even got a wedding. And now someone wanted to hand me the world just because I was his sister.
Before I could process any of it, the door was shoved open. Nolan stormed in. “Allison, come back with me. ”
“For what?
To watch you and Holly play the doting couple? ”
He walked toward me, reaching out to take me away. But this time, I didn’t give in. I leaned against the headboard and pressed my foot against his chest.
“Mr. President, keep the hands that touched your mistress away from me. ”
Nolan froze. He had never expected me to treat him like this.
For the first time, I felt no pain looking at him. Only a cold, liberating disgust. “Do you really have to speak to me like this? ”
“Then how should I speak to you?
You want me to wait for you, trust your promises, only to be dumped by you again? ”
“I told you it was temporary. I didn’t mean to—”
“I don’t want you anymore. ”
I watched the shock in his eyes and felt nothing but irony.
Now he was finally panicking. Too late. The door opened again. Holly walked in.
“Allison, don’t do this. Nolan loves you. Just go back with him. ” She sounded like she was trying to make peace, but the triumph in her eyes was impossible to hide.
“It won’t be easy for you to recover out there alone. And I don’t want people saying I’m the reason you left. ”
“Don’t flatter yourself. ”
Her smile froze.
Nolan still refused to leave and even tried to take me by force. I pressed the call button. A guard appeared. “What happened?
”
“Kindly escort this trespassing president and his pregnant mistress out of my room. Whoever handles it cleanly gets a hundred thousand dollars. ”
“Allison, how can you do this? ” Nolan demanded.
“Why can’t I? This is my room. ”
“You wouldn’t dare. ”
“Try me.
”
The royal guards seized Nolan without hesitation. Two more moved toward Holly. Her face went pale, and she instinctively hid behind him. “Throw them out.
”
Moments later, both of them were escorted out. Outside the room, Derek leaned against the wall, openly amused. “Mr. President, how does it feel to be thrown out by your ex-wife?
”
Holly’s face darkened from the humiliation. But just as I thought I could finally get some peace, Derek delivered a revelation that rocked me to my core. “This is a complete copy of your divorce filing and a confidential file on Holly’s father,” he said, placing a folder in front of me. “Wilson Pearson?
”
“That’s right. He’s a business tycoon, a philanthropist, the polished face of high society. And very possibly the man responsible for your adoptive parents’ deaths. ”
My fingers tightened instantly.
“Are you saying the plane crash that killed them wasn’t an accident? ”
“Yes. And after that, the Pearson family took control of all their valuable assets. ”
“Where’s the proof?
”
“I found a few things. The rest, you’ll have to dig up yourself. ”
I could tell Derek wasn’t helping me out of pity. He wanted to use me to bring down the Pearsons and take Nolan’s power for himself.
“Allison, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Shall we work together? ”
My broken marriage and the bitter truth behind my adoptive parents’ deaths together stoked a rage I could no longer contain. “Fine.
I want every debt they owe me repaid. One by one. ”
Simon’s people brought me everything that happened inside the presidential residence. After I had her thrown out of my hospital room, Holly clearly had no intention of letting it end there.
She knew that the moment she lost Nolan, she lost everything. So she staged her next act immediately. She gripped the banister and deliberately took each step slowly. In the next second, she tumbled all the way down the stairs.
“Nolan, help me! ” she cried. Nolan rushed over and caught her. “What happened?
”
“Allison had me thrown out of the hospital room earlier. I twisted my ankle back then, and that’s why I fell down the stairs just now. It doesn’t matter if I’m hurt. I’m only worried about the baby.
”
She clung to Nolan desperately, sobbing. But exhaustion appeared on Nolan’s face. He carried her to her room and called for a doctor. Not long after, he drifted into his study.
He opened an old photo album filled with photos of me. Just as Nolan began to waver, he received a message.
