THE DIVORCE GAMBIT From Dumped Wife to CEO's Forever novel Chapter 745

Flavia pressed a hand to her cheek, blood seeping through her fingers.

The crimson stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin.

For twenty years, since the day she set foot in Valerium, she had been a prisoner on this land. She never imagined that simply asking to return home would provoke such a violent reaction. Her eyes welled with tears of confusion and hurt. She didn't understand.

She had thought about fighting back, but her husband had died for her. Without him, she wouldn't be alive. So, she couldn't resist. She had to live for him, to honor his memory by being a dutiful daughter to the Dowager.

The old woman's abuse continued. She stalked over to Flavia and began to punch and kick her, her voice rising to a hysterical shriek. "You jinx! It's all your fault! You killed my son! If it weren't for you, he would still be alive! Why was it Quinton who died? You murdered my son, and now you want to run back and sleep with other men!"

"Mother, you've misunderstood," Flavia pleaded. "I never thought about finding another man…"

The Dowager cut her off. "Never thought about it? Then why are you so desperate to go back? Don't forget, you're nothing but an orphan! Before you met our Quinton, you had nothing, not even a roof over your head! It was Quinton who gave you a home! You're a walking disaster, a bad omen with no family in that country! What else would you do there but whore yourself out to some degenerate?"

After the accident, Flavia had forgotten everything. All she knew of her past was what the Dowager had told her: that she was an orphan from birth and that Quinton had saved her from a life of poverty. In her mind, Quinton was not just her husband; he was her savior.

"What would I do there?" Flavia repeated, dazed. "I don't know… I really don't know." It was the truth. She didn't even know which city she would go to. There was just a persistent voice in her head telling her to go back, as if something important was waiting for her there.

"You don't know?" The Dowager's eyes were filled with venom. "I think you just can't control yourself anymore, you're in heat!"

"No, that's not it," Flavia shook her head. "Mother, it's not!"

The Dowager sneered. "Isn't it? You slut! Don't think I don't know what's on your mind. You can't stand being a widow any longer, can you? Well, I'm telling you now, as long as I am alive, you will never leave this place! You will stay here and mourn until the day you die!"

Flavia touched her cheek, realizing the bleeding had stopped and the wound was already starting to scab over. "Thank you, Dr. Tina. That would be very kind."

"It's my job," the doctor said, reopening her bag and taking out antiseptic supplies. "How did this happen? The wound is quite deep." She had assumed it was just a scratch, but upon closer inspection, she saw that it was dangerously close to the bone.

Flavia forced a smile. "I had a clumsy fall."

*A fall?* A fall that resulted in a wound like this? Dr. Tina glanced at the Dowager lying on the bed. It wasn't hard to guess what had really happened. She had been working at the castle for three years and knew a fair amount about the Vance family. She knew Flavia's life was not an easy one. A widow for twenty years, childless, with a cruel and eccentric mother-in-law. Dr. Tina often wondered what could make a woman endure such a life. But it wasn't her place to ask.

"Mrs. Vance, I'm going to clean the wound now. It might sting a bit, so please bear with me."