Chapter 1: Web of Lies

Melody's POV

I wasted five years of my life on a lie. A nauseating, twisted joke of a marriage.

I almost signed away 120 billion dollars to a man who forged our marriage certificate, trapped me in a web of deceit, and used me to raise the illegitimate son of his mistress.

One hour ago.

I sat in a decadent boardroom of the downtown sky scraper. My lawyer, Mr. Vance, looked at me with a mixture of awe and sheer terror. His hands trembled as he glanced down at the document on the desk.

His expression said it all. He was unable to comprehend why I, Melody Keallper, would agree to share a 120-billion-dollar inheritance with my husband, Adam.

"Ms. Keallper," Vance said, his pen paused over the paper. "I have to ask you one last time. Are you absolutely certain you want to do this? This is 120 billion dollars."

"I'm certain," I replied, lifting my chin and locking eyes with him. My voice was steady. "This is what I want."

Adam, my husband, deserved a portion of my inheritance. I’d only recently learned that I was the sole heir to the vast fortune of Edmon Keallper—the richest man in the city. Before that, though, I’d been nothing but a poor orphan. Why wouldn’t I share my wealth with the one person who had stuck by my side?

Mr. Vance was just about to sign the document when his phone pinged.

Glancing at it, he raised his finger. “Just a moment.” He furrowed his brows. Then he looked at me, his face incredulous.

“I ran a check on your marriage certificate,” he told me. “Just in case. Thank God I did.” Mr. Vance lowered his voice to a whisper. "I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Ms. Keallper, but your marriage certificate...is forged."

The air left the room.

"Forged?" I whispered. My mind spun. What was he saying? "That’s impossible. We’ve been married for five years."

"Not according to the document I just received.”

Mr. Vance shook his head. He gleaned over the marriage certificate on his desk. “This certificate is a third-party fabrication. It’s fake. " He pushed the certificate towards me like it was radioactive trash. "Legally, you’re a single woman."

Wait! What!?

Adam forged the certificate? He…tricked me?

That was preposterous. Why would he do that?

My mind flashed back to the day we’d discovered I was infertile. My heart had sunk. I was sure that Adam would leave me now that he knew I couldn’t have children.

To my surprise, though, he hadn’t.  

Instead, he’d declared loudly that night during a lavish family dinner at his parents’ house that:

“We’ve decided not to have children.”

His voice had been steady and unwavering, even amongst the shocked and scornful looks of his family.

He made it sound like it was a choice, instead of a biological impossibility.

A slew of questions had followed.

“No children? But what about an heir? Who will inherit the family fortune?”

Adam had lifted his chin in defiance.

"I love Melody," he’d proclaimed. "I don’t want to share my love for her with anyone, not even a child. If this family is so desperate for an heir, there are plenty of cousins who can provide one."

Later that night as we walked to his car, I bit back tears.

“Are you sure?” I’d asked him.

He stuffed my freezing hands into his coat pockets and cupped my face with gloved hands.

"Melody, look at me.” His voice was flooded with warmth. “You are the love of my life. We don’t need a child. We can get a dog.” He smiled wryly and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You are all I need, and as long as I breathe, I will protect and love you. You are enough."

“I want to be a mother though,” I said softly. My heart ached as I said it.

He kissed me on the top of my head.

“Then a mother you shall be,” he told me. “If you really want a child, then we’ll adopt one.”

So that’s what we’d done. A little boy, Church.

And Adam had kept his promise. He’d been a loving and doting husband for the past five years.

As I stared at the forged marriage certificate on the desk, my heart hammered in my chest.

Had our entire marriage been a lie?

No.

I refused to believe that.  

Clutching the marriage certificate, I darted out of the office before Mr. Vance could ask another question.

I needed to see Adam. He would clear this all up. There was a mistake; there had to be. Some sort of clerical error.  

My hands shook on the steering wheel as I drove straight to Adam’s tech company. The elevator ride to the top floor felt like it took a lifetime. My hands shook. My tongue felt so thick I could barely swallow.

Outside Adam’s office door, I wiped my sweaty hands on my skirt before I reached out to push open the door.  

But as I did, I heard a familiar voice from inside the office.

The voice belonged to Lily. My best friend in the world. My chosen sister, my college roommate, my maid of honor.

My confidante.

I froze.

What was Lily doing in Adam’s office?

"Adam, how much longer do we have to keep this up?"

Her tone was strange. Possessive and cloying. She was usually so shy, so soft-spoken.

“I don’t want to share you.”

A sense of dread washed over me.

"Church is four now,” Lily continued. “He can remember things. He can’t keep calling Melody 'Mommy.' Do you have any idea how much that hurts me? To hear our child all another woman ‘Mommy?’"

‘OUR’ child?

But Church belonged to me and Adam. I’d raised him. I’d rocked him through his nightmares, sat by his side when he was sick. It didn’t matter that he was adopted; I’d loved that boy fiercely, as though he were my own flesh and blood.

What was Lily talking about?

 Adam replied, his voice soothing. "I know it’s hard. Just hang on a little longer, darling."

Darling?

My stomach churned. His voice was so soothing, so tender, so full of love…

"Sunkey Group goes public in a few days," Adam said smoothly. "We still need her technical support. But once the company lists, I’ll send her packing."

"And the marriage certificate?" Lily asked, sounding nervous. "If she finds out..."

"Nonsense," Adam sneered. All the warmth left his tone, replaced by a cold chill. "She won’t find out. I hired the best certificate forger in the city. She has no idea she was never legally my wife. Melody’s just a free CTO and a temporary nanny for our son. But this will all be over soon. Patience, my love."

Leaning back against the wall, I clamped my hand over my mouth, stifling a sob.

Five years.

Five years of my life!

My entire marriage was a lie?

My best friend had stabbed me in the back?

And the worst part…

The man I loved, truly loved, was planning on kicking me to the curb like some disgusting pile of trash?