Chapter 2

The next morning, Julian seemed surprised to see me at City Hall.

He tucked away the glaring marriage certificate and pulled me aside.

"Why do you look so haggard? Didn't you rest well last night? I told you to wait for me at home, didn't I?"

He covered my hand with his, then brought it to his lips and blew on it gently.

He spoke to me in the same gentle tone he always did.

As if I were the one he'd just gotten married to.

I pulled my hand away and smiled.

"I couldn't wait, so I came early."

He looked a little surprised, thinking I was there to confront him.

After a moment, he put his arm around my waist and said remorsefully:

"Last night she was threatening to kill herself, I had no choice. I really dealt with her, that's why I didn't answer your calls. I'm sorry I made you worry, babe."

Hearing him call me "babe" over and over made me feel utterly ridiculous.

He once risked his life, going deep into the wilderness alone to save me, almost losing a leg to a bear attack.

Now, he could shamelessly mess around with someone else and then casually tell me about it like it was nothing.

Dealt with her?

His "dealing with her" meant spending a sleepless night battling with that woman, from the bedroom to the living room.

I suppressed the twisting pain in my heart and suddenly smiled.

I looked up at him and asked, "Julian, did you ever..."

...ever intend to marry me?

But before I could finish, Chloe, the woman he'd just married, walked out of the restroom.

She hurried over, leaned on Julian's shoulder, and extended a hand towards me, feigning curiosity.

"Hi, I'm Julian's wife. And you are?"

"His ex-girlfriend."

"My wife."

Julian and I answered at the same time. Chloe pouted and glared at him.

She held up the marriage certificate.

"Say that again, who's your wife?"

Julian looked a little embarrassed. He lit a cigarette, laughing along with her. "Alright, alright, for these three months, you're my wife, okay?"

Watching them flirt openly right in front of me, all the questions I'd pondered last night suddenly became irrelevant.

Whether I was in his heart didn't matter, whether he loved me didn't matter.

What mattered was that he was now someone else's husband.

The strategic alliance between our two powerful families involved too many interests. My father wouldn't agree to break the engagement without solid evidence.

But if Julian was already a married man, that changed everything.

So, I pulled out my phone, ready to capture proof of their relationship.

But Julian snatched my phone away.

He pulled me aside, lowering his voice.

"Skylar, what are you doing! I told you, getting the certificate with her was just to appease her. Once she calms down, I'll divorce her in a few days."

His tone was so righteous, it was as if I was the one in the wrong.