Prison For Love, Drowning In Deceit

Alexis Brandt POV: My dreams were a cruel replay of the past. I saw myself, fresh out of college, crossing paths with a struggling Austin. He was just a kid then, ambitious but lost. I' d offered him my meager savings, believed in his crazy dreams. He swore he' d repay me, that he' d make me his queen. Then he found me, years later, a self-made billionaire. We built Aether Corp together. Every late night, every impossible line of code, every victory was ours. And then… the scandal. The insider trading. My choice. My sacrifice. "Marry me, Alexis," he' d pleaded in the sterile courtroom, his eyes filled with tears, "I' ll wait for you. Five years, a lifetime, it doesn' t matter. You' re my everything." I woke up, my face drenched in tears, the phantom pain of his betrayal a fresh ache. My arm throbbed, the burn from Eva' s porridge a constant, fiery reminder. My body felt heavy, bruised, and used. What a fool I' d been. I dragged myself out of bed. The house was silent. Austin and Eva were gone. On my bedside table, a folded napkin. Austin' s scrawl. "Alexis, as long as you behave and keep Eva calm, anything you want is yours. We can be a family." A family. I scoffed, a dry, humorless sound. I tore the napkin into tiny pieces, flushing them down the toilet. Family? With that viper and her parasitic child? Never. My arm screamed with pain. I needed a doctor. I called a taxi, giving the driver the address of a small, discreet clinic I knew. The doctor, a kind older woman, cleaned and bandaged the wound without asking too many questions. As I was paying, the nurse handed me a file. "Mr. Alexander's medical report," she said. "He left it here last month." My hand trembled as I took it. Why would Austin leave his medical report here? Curiosity, morbid and defiant, pricked at me. I fumbled with the clasp, and the folder sprang open, papers scattering across the floor. My eyes landed on a bold, damning phrase: "Azoospermia – permanent infertility." My breath hitched. Infertility. Austin was sterile. Eva' s baby… it wasn' t his. The realization hit me like a physical blow. All the lies, the manipulation, the pain he'd inflicted on me for a child that wasn't even his! My mind flashed back to Austin' s furious face, his accusations, his cold dismissal. All for a lie. The irony was so immense, so cruel, I almost laughed. But the laugh caught in my throat, turning into a choked sob that burned my eyes. This was his karma. This was his reckoning. I carefully gathered the papers, folded the report, and slipped it back into the file. I needed to be calm. I needed to be smart. My phone buzzed. Austin. I answered, my voice surprisingly steady. "I'm at the clinic," I stated, offering no further explanation. "Get over here now, Alexis." His voice was sharp, impatient. "I need you." I felt a surge of disgust. He needed me. Always needed me. But never saw me. The emptiness in my heart solidified into cold resolve. He was a blind fool, led by the nose by a cunning snake. And I, the loyal one, had paid the price. I was done paying. It was time for him to.