Hook: Alex thought he was rescuing his secret lover. He didn't realize he had just signed his own divorce papers—and his career's death warrant—in front of the entire department.

Hook: Valerie thinks she won the prize, but a sudden medical emergency forces her to make a choice that exposes her true colors to Alex.

Three weeks later, the divorce proceedings were moving at lightning speed. Lucy had hired the most ruthless family attorney in Chicago, funded by her own family. Alex was living with Valerie in the downtown apartment he had secretly paid for, his life completely ruined. He was facing a permanent termination hearing from the fire department, and his reputation was completely gone.

Valerie, however, was ecstatic. She had Alex all to herself. Or so she thought.

"Alex, honey, stop looking at the news," Valerie purred, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he sat at the kitchen island, staring at a bottle of whiskey. "The public will forget about it in a few months. Once the divorce is finalized, we can move to Miami. You can get a job down there. We can start over."

Alex pulled away from her touch, feeling a sudden wave of revulsion. "Start over? Valerie, I lost my career. I lost my daughter. I’m broke. The fire department is stripping my pension. Do you even understand what happened?"

"You saved me!" Valerie said, her voice turning sharp, dropping the sweet act. "You chose me over her! That means something, Alex. It means we belong together."

Before Alex could answer, Valerie’s phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text message. Alex’s eyes instinctively darted to the screen.

Unknown Number: "The first installment of the payout has landed. If you want the rest of the store video suppressed, I need another $10,000 by tonight."

Alex’s brow furrowed. "Valerie? Who is that? What payout?"

Valerie snatched the phone away, her face flushing a deep crimson. "Nothing! Just... spam. A clothing brand I work with."

"Spam doesn't talk about suppressing store video," Alex said, his firefighter instincts finally kicking in. He stood up, towering over her. "Valerie. Give me the phone."

"No! You're being paranoid, Alex! This is why Lucy left you, you're unstable!"

That name—Lucy—made something snap inside him. He grabbed the phone from her hand. Valerie screamed, lunging for him, but he held her back with one arm while overriding her lock screen using her birthday.

He opened the text thread. His breath stopped.

The messages were between Valerie and Tyler—the delivery driver who had been trapped in the elevator with Lucy.

Valerie (from 4 weeks ago): "I know you're doing the maintenance delivery at the department store on Saturday. Ensure the elevator stalls between 2 and 3 p.m. I need a crisis. I need Alex to come save me in front of everyone so he finally leaves his wife. I'll pay you $20,000."

Tyler: "It's risky, but I can override the breaker from the inside. Just make sure your boyfriend's crew gets the dispatch."

Alex staggered backward, the phone slipping from his fingers. The elevator trap wasn't an accident. It was a planned, orchestrated stunt by Valerie to force his hand and break up his marriage.

"You..." Alex choked out, looking at Valerie as if she were a monster. "You trapped eight people in a suffocating box for seven hours. You almost killed an old man. You almost killed my daughter. For a game?!"

Valerie’s face turned cold. The innocent, fragile girl was completely gone. "It wasn't a game, Alex! I loved you! You were supposed to be mine! But you married that boring, pathetic nurse! I had to do something drastic to make you see that you belong with me!"

"You're insane," Alex whispered, turning toward the door to go straight to the police.

But as he reached for the handle, Valerie grabbed a heavy crystal vase from the entryway table and smashed it directly against the side of his head.