Burning His Empire For My Sister

My sister died because my husband' s mistress needed the helicopter for her dog. I called him, begging him to send his medevac chopper. He promised it would be there in thirty minutes.

It never came. As my sister' s heart monitor flatlined, I saw the reason on Instagram. His mistress, Brooklyn, was posing with the helicopter, thanking my husband, Jax, for saving her Pomeranian who ate some chocolate.

When I confronted him, he chose her. He pushed me, and after the car crash that followed, he rescued her from the wreckage while leaving me bleeding in the back.

At the hospital, he played the hero for the news, but the final blow came from my lawyer. Our five-year marriage was a fraud; the license was fake.

So I disappeared. Now, two years later, I' m back. He built an empire on my back, and I' m here to burn it all to the ground.

Chapter 1

Josephine Cole POV:

My sister died because my husband' s mistress needed the helicopter for her dog.

That' s the sentence that plays on a loop in my head. It' s the beginning and the end of everything.

The hospital air was thick with the smell of antiseptic and fear. The steady, frantic beep of Kiera' s heart monitor was the only music in my world, a frantic drumbeat counting down the seconds of her life.

"The specialist is in San Francisco, Jo," Dr. Evans had said, his face grim. "We don' t have the equipment here. Her only chance is a medevac. Now."

I' d called Jax immediately, my voice shaking. "Jax, it' s Kiera. Her heart… it' s failing. They need to fly her to SF. You have the helicopter, the medevac one. You have to send it."

"I' m on it, Jo. Don' t worry," he' d promised. His voice, usually so commanding, was the lifeline I clung to. "It' ll be there in thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes passed. Then sixty. Then ninety.

I paced the sterile hallway like a caged animal, my phone pressed to my ear. I called him again. And again. And again. Each call went to voicemail.

"Jax, where is it? Where' s the helicopter? Please, pick up."

"Jax, Kiera' s fading. Please."

"Jax…"

My tenth call finally connected. His voice was rushed, annoyed. "Jo, I' m in the middle of something important."

"More important than my sister' s life?" I shrieked, my control finally snapping. "The helicopter isn' t here, Jax! The doctor said she has minutes!"

There was a pause, a rustle of fabric. I heard a woman' s soft giggle in the background, a sound so out of place it felt like a physical blow. Brooklyn Barry. My high school tormentor. His new obsession.

"Listen, Jo, there was… a complication," Jax said, his tone clipped. "A real emergency came up. I had to divert it. I' ll arrange for something else, a commercial-"

I didn' t hear the rest. The connection was cut.