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Chapter Forty Eight

Author: Zinny Francis
last update publish date: 2026-03-30 00:39:55

*Avina*

The pre-trial detention center was a brutalist block of concrete and iron that stood in stark contrast to the glass towers of the outside world. The air inside smelled of industrial bleach and unwashed desperation.

The guards here immediately recognized me on sight. Turns out the scandal made me a little more famous than I thought. So after a brief, tense wait, I was led into a private visitation room. It was a small, windowless box with a scratched plexiglass divider and a bolted-down
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  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Nine

    *Avina*I trudged toward the master suite, my body feeling like it was made of lead. The adrenaline that had carried me from the hospital to the driveway was gone, leaving only a deep, aching exhaustion. I walked past the guest room—the one I’d been staying in before the wedding, and went straight to Ronan’s room. Our room. I pushed the double doors open and stepped inside. The room was massive, decorated in deep grays and rich charcoals, mirroring the man who owned it. It smelled like him too, that irresistible mixture of his cologne, expensive soap, and a hint of the cold city air. I walked over to the massive windows that overlooked the front driveway. I wanted to see them. I wanted to see if she was touching him. I wanted to see if he was leaning in, if he was weakening. I pulled the heavy velvet curtain back just a fraction. Nothing. The driveway was empty. The guards were back at their posts. The black SUV was parked, but Ronan and Camila were gone. My heart gave a violen

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Eight

    *Avina*"Zach," Ronan’s voice was a low, vibrating growl that filled the cabin of the SUV. "Get her out of here. Now.""Sir?" Zach asked, his hand already on the door handle."I don't care how you do it. Escort her off the property. And find out who let her through the main gate. I want them sacked by sunset. No one enters this estate without my express permission. No one."Ronan turned to look at me, his eyes searching mine for any sign of a break. His jaw was so tight I heard the faint click of his teeth. He reached over, his hand finding the back of my neck, his thumb stroking the skin just below my ear. It was a grounding touch, but I could feel the tremor in his fingers."You okay, baby?" he whispered. I forced a smile onto my lips. "Why wouldn't I be?," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. His own mouth thinned, but he said nothing. Instead his hands reached for his seat belt. Camila had also noticed us, so as Ronan stepped out of the car, her eyes sharpened with a cert

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Seven

    *Avina*> [MACY: Ran the facial rec on the club’s internal security feed from that night. I checked the back hallways, the private rooms, and the service entrance. Avina... there’s no trace of Xavier. No one matching his description entered or exited The Iron Lung in the 48-hour window. Aria was drugged out of her mind. She likely saw a shadow and her trauma filled in the blanks.]

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Six

    *Avina*The next three days were a masterclass in what it meant to be a Graves. Not because of the power or the money, but because of the suffocating, terrifyingly sweet intensity of Ronan’s devotion. If I moved a finger, he was there with a glass of water. If I sighed, he was adjusting my pillows. If I closed my eyes for longer than ten seconds, I could feel him hovering, checking my breathing as if I might just decide to stop out of spite. It was endearing, it was exhausting, and it was entirely Ronan.The current hospital room was a five-star suite disguised as a medical ward. The walls were a soft cream, the lighting was dimmed to a warm honey hue, and the air smelled like the expensive white lilies Ronan had delivered every morning. But no amount of luxury could mask the underlying tension that hummed through the room every time Aria’s name was mentioned.I watched them like a spectator at a high-stakes chess match where both players refused to sit at the table. Aria would crack

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Five

    *Avina*I looked at him, and for a second, I felt a flash of pity. He was trying so hard to fix something that couldn't be mended with words or money. "I know," I said. It was a lie, or at least a half-truth. I didn't know if I wanted to try again. I didn't know if I wanted to bring a child into a world where I had to hit men with marble statues just to survive the night. But I couldn't tell him that. Not now. "You need to go home, Ronan," I said softly, brushing a stray hair from his forehead. "You look like you're about to collapse. Go shower. Change. See Aria. I’m not going anywhere.""I'm not leaving you," he insisted, his jaw setting in that stubborn Graves line. "Ronan. Please. I just... I need a moment of quiet. And you need to be a father to the daughter who is actually here."That got to him. He slumped, the fight bleeding out of his shoulders. He kissed my knuckles, a long, lingering press of his lips, before finally standing up. "I’ll be back in two hours," he promised

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Eighty Four

    *Avina*The first thing I registered when I woke up was the smell. It wasn't the metallic, copper scent from the club or the sour stench of sweat and fear. It was clean. Far too clean for that hellhole. Instead it was that expensive, sterilized scent of an elite private hospital—bleach masked by a hint of lavender and the faint, ozone hum of high-end machinery. My eyelids felt like they were glued shut with lead. When I finally forced them open, the world around me was a blinding, clinical white. I winced, my head throbbing with a rhythmic, pounding ache that felt like someone was using my skull as a drum. Beep. Beep. Beep.The steady, artificial heartbeat of a monitor filled the silence. As my vision slowly dragged itself into focus, I realized I wasn't alone. There was a weight on my left arm, something heavy and warm. I shifted slightly, a groan catching in my dry throat, and looked down. It was Ronan. He was slumped in a chair that looked far too small for his frame, his hea

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Four

    *Avina*I jerked awake with a gasp that felt like it had been trapped in my lungs for a lifetime.My eyes flew open, expecting to see the cold, damp shadows of a prison cell or the blinding white of a psychiatric ward. I expected the smell of bleach and the iron tang of my own blood. Instead, I was

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Three

    *Avina*The gravel of the driveway bit into my bare, bloodied feet, but I didn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything except the frantic, jagged beat of my heart and the cold, wet sensation of my own blood soaking into my collar.I leaned against a thick oak tree at the edge of the estate, gasping for

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter Two

    *Avina* I finally forced myself to move, taking slow tentative steps backwards. “There has to be some sort of mixup somewhere,” I argued, shaking my head. “We have the evidence with us, Mrs. Graves,” one of the policemen countered. “It would be in your best interests if you follow us now or we wou

  • Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife    Chapter One

    *Avina*The air in the doctor’s office smelled like bleach and old paper. It was the kind of smell that clung to my throat and turned my stomach, because it always meant tests, needles and answers I wasn’t ready for. On a normal day, I would have been lying down by now, staring at the ceiling as a

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