After dumped, I married a billionaire

I walked out with nothing but one thing – that stupid men’s blazer was somehow still in my arms.

I limped down the sidewalk, sun blazing down overhead, but I still felt ice cold right down to my bones. Fumbling for my phone, I pressed call on a number I knew by heart. "Kendra? Can you come get me?" I asked.

Twenty minutes later, Kendra screeched to a stop right in front of me in her cherry-red sports car.

One look at the white bandage wrapped around my leg and she ripped her sunglasses off, worry written all over her face. "Babe, what the hell happened to you?"

"Kendra, can I crash at your place for a while?" I asked weakly, slumping back against the passenger seat. I told her everything that went down with Michael Hansen, my voice totally flat, like I was just reciting some stranger’s story, not mine.

"That whole Hansen family are a bunch of freaking idiots! And who the hell does Aila think she is, even daring to compare herself to you?!" Kendra’s anger rolled off her in waves, her foot slamming heavier on the gas as she ranted a mile a minute. "If it wasn’t for you, how the hell would Michael even gotten where he is today? Is he just blind and stupid? Or just a shameless asshole who’s never satisfied? All these years, how much have they stolen from you, out in the open and behind your back? The second Aila waltzes back in, you get tossed aside like trash. That family really invented being shameless, I swear."

I answered her totally calm. "Kendra… the perfect life with loving parents and a happy marriage? It just wasn’t ever meant for me."

Kendra’s brow furrowed a little. She remembered my messed up childhood, and a flash of pain crossed her eyes. "Babe, don’t be sad."

"If I know it’s not for me, I don’t have to crave it anymore. I don’t have to be heartbroken over it either," I said softly, letting out a tired breath before closing my eyes. "I’m so worn out. I’m just gonna nap for a minute."

Kendra picked up that something was wrong right away. She pressed a hand to my burning skin and cursed under her breath before slamming on the gas straight for the hospital.

The whole ride there, she ripped the Hansen family a new one – not a single one of them got let off the hook.

Let’s be real, the Hansens were barely scraping by on the wrong side of town once upon a time. Without all my plans and my advice, what shot did Michael ever have at becoming the big shot he is today? They sucked up to me nonstop when I was useful, but the second Aila came back, they couldn’t kick me to the curb fast enough. They traded the real thing for fake, thinking they’d get along just fine without me. We’ll see how that goes.

When my fever finally broke, I woke up in the harsh white glow of a hospital room. The smell of disinfectant hung thick in the air, and I grimaced.

As my head cleared, I automatically scanned the room – and my gaze locked on a familiar silhouette sitting right next to my bed.

My breath caught. I tightened my hand around the blanket, my voice coming out rough and raspy. "Uncle…"

"How you feeling?" Uncle Matthew stood up, pressing the back of his hand to my forehead. When he felt no more fever, he breathed a sigh of relief and handed me a mug of warm coffee. "Still sore or anything?"

I shook my head fast.

"Kendra told me everything," Uncle Matthew said, his face soft with sympathy but tight with anger as he looked at my pale, exhausted face.

He let out a heavy sigh, anger simmering just under the surface. "What are you planning to do now?"