A Marriage Built on Lies

"Kyson, you've killed another person who truly loved you. You're nothing but a curse!" My oldest sister, Zara Compton, sneered before abruptly hanging up.

I stared at my darkened phone, the words of Memphis Compton, the fake heir, still echoing in my head.

It felt as though a boulder had been pressed against my chest. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe.

So Zara really had been involved, and she'd made sure to twist the knife while I was already grieving.

Yet the wedding ring on my finger, personally designed by Aislinn, still left me clinging to a sliver of hope.

After being discharged from the hospital, I gathered my identification documents and went to the county clerk's office.

The clerk typed a few things into her computer before looking up at me with an odd expression. "Sir, is Aislinn West really your wife? There's no record of anyone by that name in our system."

She checked my marriage certificate again. "And this certificate is fake."

I'd already prepared myself for the possibility, but hearing her confirm it still sent a sharp pain through my chest.

Unwilling to give up, I pulled out my phone and tried looking up her educational records.

My hands trembled as I entered the information over and over, but every attempt failed. The system wouldn't let me log in.

I considered contacting her friends and relatives, then remembered what she'd told me when we'd first started dating.

"I'm an orphan. I grew up in a small town and worked my way into college. I don't have any family."

She'd seemed uncomfortable when she said it. Back then, I'd assumed she was embarrassed about her background.

Now I understood. She'd been lying to me from the very beginning.

A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I nearly lost my balance.

I'd spent six years loving a woman who had never been honest about who she really was!

I returned home in a daze.

Suddenly, a hand clamped around my arm. "Kyson, what's wrong with you? Aislinn is dead! Why aren't you going to identify her body? What are you doing standing around here?"

I turned and came face-to-face with my second sister, Daleyza Compton, who wore a furious expression.

After my biological parents discovered that we'd been switched at birth and that I was their real son, they'd immediately sent Memphis away.

But on their way to bring me home, they were involved in a car accident. Neither of them survived despite emergency efforts.

Daleyza hated me just as much as Zara did. She'd played her part in this elaborate deception, too.

Looking into her disgusted eyes, I felt my throat tighten painfully. "Do you remember what happened after my surgery, Daleyza? Zara said Aislinn's body was never recovered. How would I even recognize her if I went?"

They had been so eager to make me accept her supposed death and drown in guilt over losing her. That way, nothing would stand in the way of Aislinn and Memphis starting their new life together.

But not one of them had considered that I'd just undergone surgery and still needed someone to look after me.

Daleyza stared at me blankly for a moment before frowning in irritation. "If you don't want to go, then don't. Nobody's forcing you.

"After everything Aislinn did for you, this is how you repay her? If she hadn't been so eager to come home and see you, she wouldn't have gotten into that accident!"

She tossed those words at me and stormed out.

Watching her retreating figure, I managed a bitter smile.

Memphis's livestream had already ended. I opened his profile. It was filled with videos documenting his everyday life.

There was a woman's silhouette in every single one. Even though she only appeared for a fleeting moment, I recognized her immediately.

It was Aislinn!

I tortured myself by scrolling further back until I found the first video. It showed a marriage certificate.

My eyes burned, and I couldn't stop them from watering.

The woman I'd loved for six years had been someone else's wife all along.

I took a screenshot of a photo that revealed the location of Memphis's mansion and contacted a private investigator, Cullen Duncan. It took him less than a day to find the address.

He also told me that the woman living there was named Lyanna Richmond.