Chapter 2

The words had barely left my mouth when Serena laughed.

"Luna, you're adorable. You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

She walked over to me.

"Your marriage to Ethan was never legally valid."

My mind went blank.

Serena reached into her bag and pulled out a marriage certificate stamped with the county seal, waving it in front of me with a smug smile.

"Ethan never filed any of your paperwork with the county clerk. Legally, you were never his wife."

She tapped the certificate with one finger.

"But this? This is real. Ethan and I got legally married at the courthouse three months ago."

The county seal on the marriage certificate gleamed beneath the lights.

I stared at Ethan in disbelief.

He looked away.

He didn't deny it.

The day Ethan told me our marriage certificate had been finalized, he'd gone with me to Greenwood Memorial Cemetery to visit Dad.

Standing in front of Dad's grave, he'd solemnly promised to take care of me.

His eyes had been red as he'd pulled me tightly into his arms.

"Luna, you're finally my wife."

It had all been a lie.

I stumbled back two steps and nearly lost my balance.

Ethan rushed forward and caught me.

"Luna, it's true. Our marriage... it was never legally valid."

"But I had no choice. Serena's condition got worse. Her biggest wish was to marry me."

He reached for my face.

I turned away.

His hand froze in midair before he sighed.

"Luna, just give me a little more time..."

"I promise I'll take you to the courthouse for real. I'll give you the biggest wedding you've ever seen."

"Right now, making Serena happy is what matters most..."

There it was again.

Every single time, he used the same excuse to force me to swallow whatever pain he'd caused.

At my birthday party, Serena complained that things weren't exciting enough and said she wanted a bonfire.

So she had several paintings Dad had left me before he died piled up in our backyard and burned.

I cried so hard I could barely stand as I tried desperately to pull them from the flames.

Ethan held me back and gently whispered,

"Luna, they're just paintings. Serena doesn't have much time left. Letting her be happy is what matters most."

That same day, Mom suffered a stroke from the shock and ended up in the hospital.

She was still lying unconscious in the ICU.

"No."

I pushed Ethan's hand away.

If our marriage had never even been legally valid, what was there to divorce?

I didn't even have a marriage to dissolve.

All I needed to do now was leave him for good.

Ethan mistook my silence for surrender.

He visibly relaxed and helped me into the guest room.

"Get some rest. You have your prenatal appointment tomorrow. Don't be difficult."

I rested a hand on my stomach.

The baby suddenly kicked.

So softly it almost felt like goodbye.

Early the next morning, Ethan knocked on the guest-room door.

"Luna, I can't go with you to the appointment today."

"Serena wants to go to Six Flags."

I didn't answer.

There had been a time when I'd begged him over and over to take me to an amusement park.

He always frowned and said he was too busy with work.

He said amusement parks were for kids.

Every single time, he turned me down.

Now, because Serena had asked once, he'd cleared his entire schedule.

After they left, I put on a wig, called an Uber, and went alone to the hospital downtown.

At the OB-GYN desk, the nurse barely looked up.

"Prenatal appointment, right?"

I shook my head.

"No. I want to schedule a termination."