Divorce my prentened poor Billionaire husband

Annika Price got shoved roughly into a car by a crew of burly goons, her wrists stinging red and her knee throbbing like hell. Panicked, she curled into the corner by the window, one hand flying to her stomach on instinct. She knew any resistance, any scream for help, would only get her hurt worse.

The car lurched forward, and Annika’s mind spun a mile a minute as she scrambled to figure out an escape plan.

"Are you guys working for Mr. Kennedy?" she called out into the suffocating silence. When no one answered, she took their silence for what it was: confirmation. They were definitely on Everest Kennedy’s payroll.

Annika switched tactics. "Why are you taking me to a hospital? What do you want from me? I’m not sick, I don’t need a doctor. Did you grab the wrong person?"

One of the men finally grunted, "You’ll figure it out when we get there. Something about a blood donation."

Annika’s head spun. Blood donation? As revenge? It sounded like they weren’t after her baby. Maybe Everest Kennedy had no idea she was pregnant.

She pressed harder. "Selena needs an emergency transfusion, right? Did she get in an accident?"

"Heard nothing about an accident. We just follow orders. That’s all we know."

"For a transfusion, your blood types have to match! You don’t even know what mine is—how can you be sure it’ll work? Was this Selena’s idea, or Kennedy’s?"

"The hospital has a whole blood bank! Why does it have to be mine? I don’t even have a rare blood type."

Annika’s nagging finally got to one of the men, and he snapped, "You’ll find out when you see Mr. Kennedy. End of discussion."

Annika’s fingers twisted so tight in her shirt her knuckles turned white. If this was Everest’s doing, she’d just escaped one trap just to fall straight into another. Was he really that desperate to get back at her?

She shoved her own terror down, forcing her voice to stay steady. "Fine. If Selena really needs my blood that bad, saving a life is all that matters. Giving a little blood isn’t the end of the world."

The bodyguards bought her fake calm hook, line, and sinker. They wrote her off as weak and compliant—nothing to worry about.

In a private luxury hospital room, Peter Kennedy, Everest’s father, lay in bed. He’d been in a vegetative state for ten years after a brutal car crash, no sign of ever waking up.

Everest had been forced to take over as head of the Kennedy family at eighteen, shouldering the weight of their entire legacy. He’d turned out to be a natural business genius, pulling the Kennedy empire back from the brink and pushing it to heights no one ever expected.

Selena Kennedy stood at his bedside, dabbing at her eyes with a crumpled tissue. "Brother, Dad’s been here ten years. How many more decades do we have to wait like this?"

Everest stood at the foot of the bed, hands stuffed in his pockets, his face hard as stone. "Selena, I stood here for half an hour and didn’t see his fingers move once. The doctors say there’s zero indication he’s ever waking up. Are you sure you actually saw something?"

Selena blinked, and the lie rolled right off her tongue like honey. "Brother, I swear I saw Dad’s finger twitch. Maybe he’ll wake up today. Any day could be the day."

Just then, Murphy Kennedy walked in, his jaw set with determination. "Everest, the psychic spoke. Today is the lucky day to cast out the bad luck. If we use blood from someone with a fire zodiac sign, it’ll cleanse Dad and bring him back. Follow the ritual, and he could wake up."

Selena’s eyes glinted with quiet satisfaction. She’d bribed the psychic to feed Murphy that exact lie.

"Brother, we have to do this right now. It’s better to try than to regret it later, right? If there’s even a tiny chance for Dad, it’s worth it."

Selena’s voice was warm, earnest, like she’d do anything to save her grandfather.

"Grandma, my sign matches perfectly. If taking my blood can wake Dad up, I’ll do it no questions asked."

Murphy’s heart melted, and she patted Selena’s hand gently. "Such a kind heart you have, Selena. We were right to adopt you."

Everest frowned. He didn’t buy into the superstitious nonsense for a second, but he knew how much Murphy trusted the psychic. He couldn’t bring himself to crush her hope.

Selena caught his hesitation, and she knew exactly what it meant: he didn’t want her to have to go through the ritual. She preened inwardly—this was exactly what she wanted. She’d already arranged for Annika to take her place.

"Brother, don’t worry about me. Any sacrifice is worth it if it gets Dad better."

Just then, Everest’s phone rang. Selena hid a secret smile—this had to be Zeke Lee. They’d planned to lure Everest away with a fake emergency, make sure he left the hospital so Annika could step in as the substitute.

Sure enough, Everest’s tone turned sharp and serious when he answered. "I have to go handle this."

"Go on, brother, take care of your emergency. Grandma and I have everything handled here. It’ll be fine."

"Alright. You’re always so thoughtful, Selena. Just make sure they don’t take too much blood, okay? Just a little."

Everest gave Murphy a few quick instructions and headed out of the hospital.

At the hospital entrance, Everest’s sleek Bentley brushed right past the black SUV that had brought Annika, so close their side mirrors almost scraped.

The SUV pulled to a stop, and Annika was escorted out by one of the guards. Since she’d been so cooperative, the guards were lax—they weren’t expecting any trouble at all.

"Hey, why don’t we wait in the car a little longer? No rush, right?"

"Works for me. It’s just a quick blood draw anyway. Besides, I need to hit the restroom—my stomach’s been acting up."

Annika told herself this was a legitimate hospital. They wouldn’t try anything crazy here, right? Even if they did take blood, it’d be done safely, no big harm done.

For now, she didn’t have much to worry about.

Inside, she followed the bodyguards into a small empty waiting room. One of them excused himself to go to the restroom.

"Hey, I need to go too, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I’m not stupid enough to try and run over a stupid blood donation."

The guard agreed. Who in their right mind would defy Mr. Kennedy, anyway?

"Alright. I’ll be right back."

Once he left, Annika started trying to flag down a nurse for answers. That was when she heard footsteps coming down the hall, and caught snippets of conversation between Selena and a group of her fancy friends.

Instinct kicked in, and Annika ducked behind the sofa to hide.

Sure enough, the door swung open, and Selena and her friends walked right in.

Selena put on that signature innocent tone of hers and said, "Brother Zeke, taking all that blood from Annika… isn’t that going a little too far?"

"Selena, she put you through hell. Is it really too far? A little blood is nothing compared to what she did to you."

"Exactly, Selena! You missed the international ballet competition because of her. You suffered through all that treatment. Doesn’t she deserve to pay for what she did?"

When Annika heard "international ballet competition," her heart clenched so tight it hurt. Three years ago, she’d gotten nominated for that same competition, but couldn’t go because of a family emergency.

What did Selena have to do with that? Why was it Annika’s fault Selena missed her shot?

Annika strained to hear more about Selena’s so-called grievances, but the conversation shifted back to the plan.

"How much blood are we taking? The ritual says it’s supposed to be mine. If it’s not me, we need 200cc from both of us—though I’m not even sure that’s enough, right?"

Selena pressed a hand to her head, looking pale and woozy. "Weird, I’ve felt so dizzy all day today."

Her friends immediately rushed to steady her on the sofa.

"Selena, you’re already not feeling well, you’ve been sick for weeks. You’re on more medication than most people—there’s no way you can give blood right now."

"You’re right. And Annika’s got the right element anyway, so let her give more—up to a thousand milliliters."

Annika’s breath caught in her throat. They were actually serious.

Even a perfectly healthy young person can only give 400cc at a time. On top of that, Annika was under the weight requirement, and pregnant. Losing that much blood would be deadly dangerous.

This time, she had to get out. She couldn’t stay hidden behind this sofa forever.

Luckily, her friends left first, and Selena went out to walk them to the elevator.

Annika grabbed her chance and slipped out of the room as quiet as a mouse.

Bad luck: as soon as her foot hit the hallway, the guard came back from the restroom and spotted her straight away.

He grabbed his phone and called Selena. "Miss Selena, we got her."

Annika squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way to slip past him now.

They dragged her back into the waiting room, and a nurse walked in carrying a blood draw tray.

The nurse glanced back and forth between Annika and the guard, then frowned in confusion. "So… which one of you is here to donate blood?"