Chapter 1

Lauren Porter threw a wedding photo at me, along with the marriage certificate.

The photo stung my eyes.

With trembling hands, I picked it up. In the picture, my husband, Arthur Hughes, and Lauren were smiling happily.

I lifted the marriage certificate and ran my rough fingers over the embossed seal. The cold stamp felt like a seal burned straight into my heart.

Suddenly, something came to mind. I ran to the cabinet and pulled out my own marriage certificate with Arthur's.

There was no embossed seal. Just a crooked, barely legible red seal.

I had touched this certificate countless times.

This was my only anchor while I stayed in the village, enduring the constant torment from my senile, paralyzed mother-in-law, Paula Rodriguez.

It had been the courage I held onto to raise my daughter, Tessa Hughes, on my own.

And now, Lauren was telling me it was all a lie.

I opened my mouth to argue, but my throat felt blocked. My words came out in fits. "But Arthur and I are married… We have Tessa… How could he ever lie to me?"

Lauren took the marriage certificate and wedding photo back from me. Without any expression, she replied, "Why would Arthur tell you? If you had known, would you still take care of his bedridden mother? Look closely. Arthur and I got married five years ago. Our son is already three."

A cold shiver ran through me, as though I'd fallen into a freezer.

Back then, Arthur and I had agreed we'd get married after college.

But that same year, Paula had a stroke and became paralyzed. Arthur got a job at a big company.

Faced with a paralyzed mother and a bright career, he had held my hand and begged me to stay behind and take care of Paula while he went to the city to work.

"Hattie, I know I'm asking too much, but I promise I'll never let you down. Once I'm settled in the city, I'll bring you and my mom there."

I had believed him.

Just like that, seven years passed.

The first two years, he came back whenever he had time, and that was when Tessa was born.

But after that, his visits became fewer and fewer.

It turned out that it wasn't the job keeping him away. He was busy marrying Lauren.

How ridiculous.

For seven years, I had been a fool, holding onto a promise that never existed and pouring myself out day after day.

Yet, it had all been a scam from the start.

I felt my knees weaken. Luckily, Tessa hugged me just in time, keeping me from falling.

I looked up at Lauren, who had her head held high.

"Where's Arthur? Don't think that waving a marriage certificate around will make me give up. I won't rest until I see him and get answers."

Lauren nodded and let out a sigh that screamed reluctant compromise. "Fine. I'll let you see him one last time. He can also say goodbye to his illegitimate daughter."

The old, crumbling country house clashed completely with Lauren's stylish, high-end look.

Her heels clicked on the brick ground, kicking up dust as she walked away.