Chapter 2

I laughed out loud at her words.

“Niece?”

I raised an eyebrow, eyeing her heavy, exaggerated makeup.

“Funny. I’m Victor Grant’s daughter. For some reason, I’ve never heard of a tacky, unrefined relative like you in our family!”

The surrounding crowd gasped.

“Mr. Grant really does seem to have a daughter. She’d be about this age, too.”

“Don’t let her bluff you! Mr. Grant’s daughter has never made a public appearance. She must be an imposter!”

“Exactly! First, she impersonates Mr. Wolfe’s wife, now this? She has no shame!”

As Phoebe straightened up arrogantly, I answered with icy sarcasm.

“It's true, nobody’s seen Mr. Grant’s daughter.

“But has anyone here ever seen his niece? Isn’t Phoebe far more likely to be the imposter?”

“You!”

Phoebe’s face instantly turned red from humiliation. Just as she was about to explode in anger, Tristan quickly softened his voice to comfort her.

“Fifi, you’re still recovering from postpartum. You shouldn’t get worked up.”

He was emboldened by his coworkers closely surrounding him. He took a deep breath and asserted himself.

“Stop this nonsense! My only wife is Fifi.”

His eyes were filled with utter disgust.

“You couldn’t get me to love you back after chasing me for five years, and now you resort to slander and revenge? That’s just sick.”

I had long prepared the evidence of his affair. I scoffed and threw our marriage certificate at his face.

“We’ve been married for five years. Do the math yourself. Have you even spent six full months with me?

“You were with Phoebe on every single one of our anniversaries, weren’t you?

“You told me she had autism, but judging by how entitled she looks now, I don’t see it.”

Phoebe snapped at my words. She pointed at me and yelled, “You’re insane! Did you really think you could fool us? Anyone can fake a marriage certificate.

“You’re claiming to be Tris’ wife, aren’t you? Every man here is very close to him. Does a single one of them recognize you?”

Following her words, the man closest to me spoke first. His tone dripped with contempt.

“She’s right. We were all at their wedding!”

“Someone find the video and show this delusional woman the truth!”

I stared at the wedding video playing on the phone held in front of me. My mind went completely blank for an instant.

The wedding had happened three years ago on my birthday.

I applied for a graduate program abroad after Tristan and I got married. My father was firmly against it, but Tristan was unusually supportive.

At the time, I had been deeply moved. I thought he understood my aspirations.

Little did I know, my departure abroad actually gave him and Phoebe the perfect opportunity. They even dared to hold a wedding ceremony.

On that birthday three years ago, I did not receive any gift from Tristan, let alone a simple birthday wish.

He video-called me after two days. His body was wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

“Dear, I got seriously injured fighting a fire out in the suburbs. I just woke up. I'm so sorry I missed your birthday.”

I looked up domestic news reports and found that a factory fire had indeed broken out in the suburbs that day.

I felt guilty and transferred him one million dollars.

I finally realized he had been busy marrying someone else on my birthday.

That fatal fire, which claimed hundreds of lives, became his perfect excuse to deceive me.

Just as I was about to retort, the sound of a crying baby suddenly echoed from down the hallway.

A nurse hurried over with a baby in her arms.

She said anxiously, “Mrs. Wolfe, the baby won’t stop crying and is vomiting up all the milk he had in the morning!

Instinctively, I looked at the baby in the nurse’s arms. My heart jolted the moment I saw his face.

My heart settled on a single thought of understanding. This was my sister’s baby. He was the only part of her that remained after she died in childbirth.