Chapter 4

I gave a quiet nod and slipped my mother's photo into my bag.

Using a fake excuse, I took our marriage certificate to a lawyer, only for the young lawyer to recognize the document immediately.

He offered a sympathetic look.

"This marriage certificate is a forgery. We've seen a few of these lately. You don't even need a divorce. You can actually sue him for fraud and forgery."

I was utterly exhausted. My shadow looked incredibly lonely.

All these years...

I felt like the biggest fool. I didn't even have the right to demand a divorce.

The family I cherished wasn't mine.

I even started questioning my sanity. The child I had nearly died giving birth to wasn't legally mine. He only looked a bit like me.

How could Ethan do this to me?

Before my mother died, I had unknowingly become a mistress, giving birth to a child under a fake marriage.

When I got back home, Vivian was there again. She quickly stood up.

"Oh, Elena, you're back. I was just about to leave. I was passing by and wanted to see how Leo was recovering."

I blocked her path.

"No need to leave. We need to clear some things get straight."

I pulled the forged marriage certificate from my bag. My voice was calm, yet shattered.

"I want an explanation."

Like a self-destructive lunatic, I hoped for some misunderstanding, even though I knew the truth. He had deceived me for six years. But I just wanted to hear him say it.

I wanted him to spin another lie, to tell me the lawyer was wrong, that I was his real wife.

That our love over the years was real, simple, and happy.

That the allergy was just a curse, one I had spent years praying to lift.

Ethan looked uncomfortable under my gaze. He sighed helplessly.

"Elena, Vivian went through some trouble back then. She needed constant medical treatments, and it was hard without a guardian's signature. I had no choice but to... but you're overthinking this."

My ears started buzzing. I couldn't hear him anymore.

Stop. Don't listen.

So, I didn't even have a legal status. I didn't even have the right to scream at them.

Ethan touched my shoulder.

"Elena, calm down."

But I was perfectly calm. I didn't know what he wanted. I didn't even dare to raise my hand or scream "get out," because in the eyes of the law, I was the intruder.

Suddenly, I wanted to laugh. I was the only outsider in this house.

I recalled how shortly after our "marriage," he was always away on business.

Thank goodness I had a child. It gave them the perfect excuse of an "allergy" to go away for three whole months every year.

How hard they must have worked to pull it off.

Ethan stared at me blankly.

"Elena, don't be like this. My marriage with Vivian is just on paper. It can be annulled. It's just that her health has been bad these years, so I didn't get around to it. I'll go annul it in a few days."

Vivian stepped forward to apologize, but her arm brushed against a shelf.

The shelf tipped over. Ethan's first instinct was to grab me, but the next split second, he let go to shield Vivian.

The heavy shelf crashed onto me, knocking me to the floor. A sharp edge tore through my arm, and blood began to gush out.

Yet the father and son rushed to crowd around Vivian.

"Are you hurt? Does it hurt? Your health is fragile, come on, let's get you to the hospital."

Amidst their frantic concern for her, I pushed myself up alone. Holding my bleeding arm, I walked straight out the door.

I started humming the love song we played at our "wedding."

Back then, we only had eyes for each other.

Let's never meet again.

By the time Ethan looked back, Elena was gone. Only a trail of blood remained on the floor. He bolted out the door.

But the hallway was empty.