Chapter 1

“I'm sorry, Miss Shaw, but the document you provided is fake. It cannot prove a legal marriage between you and Mr. Patel.”

The officer handed the certified copy of the marriage certificate back to Florentia.

His businesslike tone carried a trace of mockery.

Florentia Shaw froze. “How is that possible?”

She and Hunter Patel had been married for five whole years.

Throughout those five years, he doted on her endlessly.

Otherwise, on her twenty-fifth birthday, she never would have thought about changing her last name to Hunter’s.

The officer said nothing else, only looked at her coldly.

He probably thought she was some delusional woman obsessed with Hunter.

But there was no reason for the officer to lie.

A chill crept down Florentia’s spine as realization slowly sank in. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding. She needed to ask Hunter face-to-face!

Before she could call Hunter, her editor-in-chief, Alex Jones, called first.

“There’s been a car accident on Shelton Avenue. Get over there now.”

“Mr. Jones, I have something urgent right now—”

“It’s Hunter Patel’s car.”

That single sentence stopped Florentia in her tracks.

Hunter told her yesterday that he was flying to Cloudhaven for a business trip.

A hollow ache spread through her chest. Somehow, she felt that this accident might finally reveal the truth.

After getting the exact location from Alex, Florentia immediately hailed a cab.

By the time she arrived, many reporters were already there, and her assistant had beaten her to the scene.

The familiar Rolls-Royce Phantom came into view. Then the license plate.

It was Hunter’s car.

Florentia’s heart leapt into her throat.

She shoved through the crowd, trying to see the crash site more clearly. The firefighters had already pulled the injured victims from the wreckage.

She spotted Hunter instantly.

He looked badly hurt. Blood stained his handsome face, and his white shirt was soaked crimson. He was still wearing the black suit she had personally picked out for him.

Instinctively, she stepped forward. But before she could call his name, another stretcher was carried out.

Lying on it was Hunter’s first love, Whitney Gray.

Compared to Hunter’s horrific condition, Whitney only had a few scrapes on her forehead.

She clutched at the medic’s sleeve and struggled to get off the stretcher. “Doctor, how’s Hunter?”

“Isn’t that Whitney Gray, the war correspondent who just came back from overseas? I heard she was reporting from the front lines not long ago. She’s seriously brave.”

“I have been here the whole time. You know what? When the rescue staff found them, that woman’s head was right in the guy’s crotch.”

“Wow, juicy. But isn’t Hunter Patel already married…?”

Yeah. Wasn’t she already married to Hunter?

Then why had the five years of marriage she believed were filled with happiness turned out to be fake?

Why was the husband who was supposedly away on a business trip in a car with another woman doing something like that?

Florentia stood frozen in place.

Hunter and Whitney had already been loaded into the ambulance.

Florentia held an umbrella and stood in the misty rain, watching them leave.

“Florentia, are we still going live?”

Her assistant, Betsy Smith, looked at her worriedly.

“Yes.”

Florentia told Betsy to turn on the camera and began livestreaming the traffic accident.

Even if it was only a wrecked luxury car, anything involving the Patel family of Silvercrest was enough to draw attention.

And she wanted everyone to know exactly how shameless the two of them were.

The popularity of Florentia’s livestream shot up rapidly.

In front of the camera, her long curls were pinned up elegantly, and her expression remained flawless as she calmly reported on the accident to viewers.

She even subtly hinted at the compromising position Hunter and Whitney had been caught in inside the car.

After ending the livestream, Florentia rushed back to Swiftline Magazine.

The moment she stepped inside, the editor-in-chief called her into the office.

“Are you out of your mind? I told you to cover the accident, not describe what position Hunter and Whitney were in when they were found…

“Look at what people online are saying now! They’re saying Hunter cheated during marriage and Whitney seduced a married man.

“Tell me honestly, are you using this to settle a personal grudge?”

Alex was so worked up that spit flew everywhere as he spoke.

Florentia’s relationship with Hunter was no secret.

Everyone at the company knew about it.

Florentia showed no emotion on her face. “Isn’t a reporter supposed to report the facts truthfully?”

“You!”

Alex was furious.

But he couldn’t afford to offend her, so he could only grit his teeth and snap, “If the Patel family comes after us for this, you’ll deal with it yourself. Get out!”

Florentia turned and left immediately.

She ignored the strange looks around her, returned to her desk, and finally searched for Whitney’s social media account.

Her relationship with Whitney had never been good when they were both living with the Gray family.

Later, Whitney went overseas while Florentia married Hunter, and they barely crossed paths after that.

This was the first time she had ever looked through Whitney’s social media.

The moment she found the account and opened it, Florentia’s vision darkened. Her fingers tightened around her phone.

Whitney’s account was filled with lovey-dovey photos.

Only Whitney’s face was visible, while the man always had his back to the camera.

The same white shirt.

The same buzz cut.

Some photos showed them kissing intimately, while others captured them wrapped in each other’s arms.

A few even had suggestive angles that made it obvious what they had been doing…

Florentia recognized the man instantly.

It was Hunter.

The most recent post was uploaded just last night.

[Someone said he’s buying me JY’s Eternal Heart as a gift. After all, I’m supposedly the love of his life :D]

Florentia fought back the nausea rising in her stomach and stopped scrolling.

Just then, her phone rang.

“Hello, who is this?”

It was an unfamiliar number.

“May I ask if this is Miss Florentia Shaw?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“I’m Mr. Dickson Shaw’s lawyer. According to the wills left behind by both Mr. Dickson Shaw and Mrs. Michelle Yates, the one billion dollars under their names has been left entirely to you.

“When would it be convenient for you to come and complete the paperwork?”

The caller’s tone was extremely respectful.

Florentia was stunned for a long moment before she finally snapped back to reality.

Those two names were not unfamiliar to her.

On her eighteenth birthday, she discovered that Dickson and Michelle were not her biological parents.

She was originally the true heiress of the Gray family and was born on the same day as Whitney.

But due to a mix-up at the hospital, the two babies had been switched.

Afterward, the Gray family took Florentia back, while Whitney never returned to Dickson and Michelle’s side.

Dickson and Michelle truly wanted to bring Whitney home, but Whitney looked down on them for being simple farmers.

She pretended to cry and claimed she couldn’t accept it for the time being.

In the end, with pressure from the Gray family and no other choice, Dickson and Michelle allowed Whitney to remain with the Grays.

But even now, Whitney had never once cared about Dickson and Michelle. Even when she learned they passed away, she didn’t shed a single tear.

Florentia was the one to handle the funeral arrangements from start to finish.

She never expected that even after their deaths, Dickson and Michelle would still leave her one final gift.

“I need to verify what you just said.”

Despite her shock, Florentia remained rational.

The lawyer replied, “I’ll send the documents over shortly. Once it’s convenient for you, contact me and we’ll proceed with the formalities.”

Not long after, the lawyer sent the files over.

Florentia opened the email. It contained numerous documents, including the wills and detailed personal information about Dickson and Michelle.

Michelle was the deputy director of a nationally protected research institute.

And Dickson was actually part of the influential Shaw family.

Every document had been notarized. None of it was fake.

After confirming the information was genuine, Florentia quickly called the lawyer back.

“I’m available tomorrow morning.”

“Miss Shaw, did you read everything carefully?”

The lawyer’s tone sounded oddly hesitant.

“Hm?”

Florentia reviewed the files again, worried she might have missed something.

And she really had.

The moment she opened the final document, her eyes widened in disbelief.

“The additional condition for inheriting these assets is that you must marry the eldest heir of the Walker family, Mr. Kayden Walker.”