The Fiancé He Severely Underestimated

My fiancé Jax and I built our Las Vegas empire from nothing. After fifteen years, he betrayed me for a "pure" girl named Ember, sacrificing a piece of our empire for her. He told our friends I was "too ruthless," and that he only felt "human" with her.

He arrogantly believed I could never leave, that I needed our empire-and him-too much.

To prove her victory, Ember found my mother's last keepsake, a small music box, and shattered it at my feet.

The man I'd sacrificed everything for saw me as a cold, calculating machine. He thought I was ruthless? He hadn't seen anything yet.

He believed I couldn't leave him. He was about to lose everything.

I picked up the phone and made a single call to his estranged, powerful family in D.C.

"Send him home," I said, my voice ice. "He's all yours."

Chapter 1

The diamond on my finger felt like a lie, a sparkling testament to a betrayal I hadn't yet uncovered. It was the ring Jax had slipped on my hand just last week, at the Bellagio fountains, a public spectacle that had sealed our legend as Las Vegas' s King and Queen. Everyone believed our fifteen-year partnership, built from nothing, was about to become official. I believed it too.

We were a testament to defiance, Jax and I. From the grimy back alleys to the gleaming penthouse suites, we had clawed our way up, side by side. Every scar, every victory, we shared. Our empire wasn't just built on concrete and ambition; it was forged in a fire that only two people who had nothing could understand. We were an unstoppable force, a legend in the making. That proposal, under the dancing waters, felt like the culmination of everything. It felt like forever.

My phone vibrated, slicing through the manufactured calm of my office. It was Carlisle, my head of security, his voice tight.

"Ava," he said, no preamble. "It's Jax. And Harris. Again."

A cold knot formed in my stomach. Gonzalo Harris. Our rival, the old-guard casino owner we' d been trying to squeeze out for months. Jax and Harris clashing wasn't new. It was business. But Carlisle's tone hinted at something more.

"What happened?," I asked, my voice flat, betraying nothing. My heart, however, was already starting to thunder against my ribs.

"It's... different this time," Carlisle hedged. "He's at the old warehouse we used for the downtown acquisitions. Harris is in bad shape. And there's a girl."

A girl. The words hung in the air, a silent accusation. My blood ran cold, a wave of nausea washing over me so violently I had to grip the edge of my desk. A girl. Not business. Not a negotiation gone wrong. This was something else entirely. My years of ruthlessness, my hardened exterior, felt like a thin veneer momentarily.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the weakness down. "Send me the location," I commanded, my voice regaining its steel. "And arrange for