Chapter 1

I only realized my five-year marriage was a farce on the day my husband, Matthew Spark, nearly killed me.

“As the head of the household, I order you to eat it!”

Matthew seized my wrist and shoved the slice of chocolate cake into my mouth.

He knew. He had to know I was severely allergic to cocoa.

“Please, Matthew! I’ll go into shock!”

I struggled with all my strength, trying to push his hand away.

“Oh, give me a break!” he sneered, his other hand gripping my chin and forcing my mouth open.

Sophie Spears stood to the side, her eyes slightly red.

“Forget it, Matthew. If Ava doesn’t like it, that’s fine… It’s just not good enough for her.”

“No, darling, this isn’t your fault,” Matthew said as he released me and turned to comfort her.

“It’s Ava who doesn’t know what’s good for her.”

The taste of chocolate flooded my mouth.

My throat began to swell, and every breath grew more labored.

I collapsed onto the floor, my fingernails scraping grooves into the hardwood.

“Get… meds in… my bag…” I pointed desperately toward my handbag on the kitchen counter.

Matthew didn’t even glance at it.

“Still pretending, are we? Get up. Stop making a scene.”

My vision blurred, as my ragged breaths roared in my ears.

I was going into anaphylactic shock.

In my fading consciousness, I heard Sophie say from far away, “I’m feeling a little tired. Shall we go upstairs?”

Then came the endless dark.

…

When I woke, my throat felt as though it had been scorched by fire. The harsh white of the emergency room ceiling burned my eyes.

“Thank heaven you’re awake!” A nurse exclaimed as she rushed over to check my vitals.

“When you arrived, you were already in severe shock. Five minutes later, and there would have been nothing we could do.”

“Who… brought me here?” I asked groggily.

“Your neighbor, Miss Cynthia Rhode. She said she saw you collapse on your porch.”

The nurse gestured toward the woman beside me.

“I got to you first,” Cynthia said as she stepped closer to my bed.

“Your husband came later. He was standing outside the ER, his hands shaking. I heard him muttering to himself.”

The nurse frowned. “Honestly, knowing you have a severe allergy and still exposing you to it—that’s attempted murder.”

Attempted murder.

I let out a bitter laugh. Yes, he’d nearly killed me—but he simply didn’t care.

“I need to make a call,” I said as I struggled upright.

The nurse handed me my phone. I scrolled to my gallery and stared for a long time at a photo taken three days ago.

It was at the City Hall archives.

The clerk, pointing at the computer screen, had looked utterly stunned.

“Mrs. Spark, our system shows… You were never registered as married. Mr. Matthew Spark’s legal wife is Sophie Spears.”

Five years. The marriage I thought I had, the man I thought I loved—it had all been a lie from the very beginning.

That grand wedding, that marriage certificate… all of it was not real. And I, like a fool, had believed it.