"I am definitely sending her to prison."
Octavia flung open the office door and marched out, not expecting to nearly smack into Wheeler on the other side.
"Octavia." Wheeler clearly hadn't expected to see her barge out like that. He stepped aside, holding a plate of cut fruit in both hands—it was pretty obvious who he'd prepped it for.
"Move." Octavia's eyes narrowed, irritation flaring up again just at the sight of him.
She couldn't stand Wheeler lately. He'd been glued to Latham for years. Who knew how many times he'd seen Fallon and Latham together? And he'd never said a word. Not one hint, not even a slip-like he'd been paid off long ago.
Octavia stormed past him into the hallway. The second she was outside, her heartbeat started to steady and the adrenaline faded. She clutched her bag tighter, making sure the photos inside were still there. They were damning, and right now she had no clue who'd mailed them to Latham.
Fallon. Octavia was almost certain it was her. Fallon was so calculating, playing nice and showing up to help take care of Cindy. That had to be on purpose, right? Trying to bond with Cindy, just to throw it in Octavia's face?
Octavia's jaw clenched. She stabbed her finger at her phone, dialing fast. The line barely rang before it connected. She didn't bother with small talk. "I was in Latham's office today. I saw the pictures of us."
There was a pause, then she heard the intake of breath. The man on the other end tensed up. "What happened?"
"I don't know who sent them, but I have a really bad feeling about this."
"Our secret's about to come out."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Calm down." He was definitely nervous, but tried to sound reassuring. "Look, if worst comes to worst, just get a divorce."
"You've been suffocating living with Latham all these years, haven't you?"
"You might be better off after, but you need to be prepared before any of that happens."
It was obvious what he meant, and Octavia got it right away-the assets. She'd have to think about how everything would be divided.
The James family was in great
shape these days. The business was
booming, and if the project on the
be even
west side succeeded, they'd be richer Honestly, Octavia didn't want
to give
up her life as a wealthy wife. If she divorced, sure, she'd get some money, but it wouldn't be the same. Once you got used to luxury, who wanted to go back to worrying about every little thing?
He must have sensed her hesitation, because he lowered his voice.
"If you don't want a divorce, you have to be ready for Latham to come after you. Have you really thought about what he'll do when he finds out Cindy isn't his?"
"Cindy just got back into the James family. Do you want Latham to turn his back on her?"
"And think about Lance. He's Latham's son, your son too, and he'll inherit everything one day. Even if you divorced now, the James name will still be yours through him eventually."
"If you really can't let all this go, you'll have to be tough with Latham."
His words landed heavy, making her heart twist. No one could be that cold to
someone they shared a bed with, not really.
was being honest,
And if Octavia wa
outside of his messy affairs, Latham
hadn't actually treated her badly.
She was already starting to regret it
all-how, back then, she'd let
jealousy take over when she caught
Latham cheating and get ballont
pregnant. She'd wanted revenge, plain and simple.
She remembered how Darius had liked her in school. She never paid him any real attention. He was always just the backup guy, always on call and she never thought twice about stringing him along Darius diant mind, he gave everything and never complained.
Years passed, he started a family of his own. When Octavia finally crossed the line and cheated, she regretted it almost immediately. But life doesn't undo itself. The next thing she knew, she was pregnant.
She'd been terrified ever since that Cindy was Darius's child, not Latham's. It was classic bad luck—the thing you try hardest to avoid is exactly what comes knocking on your door.