Chapter 2

The next day, I didn't get the confrontation I expected from Xena.

Instead, Sebastian came looking for me.

"You know Xena has depression. Why would you post something like that just to upset her?

"She swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills this morning. If I hadn't gotten her to the hospital in time, she could've died!"

Just like that, his lie about being away on business fell apart. Yet Sebastian didn't offer a single explanation. He simply took me to the hospital without giving me any choice.

"You're going to explain it to her yourself. Tell her what you posted was a misunderstanding."

Then he added, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "As far as Xena knows, she and I are the couple."

The sheer absurdity of it left me stunned.

I stared at him. "What did you just say?"

Sebastian barely reacted.

"She has depression. Just cut her some slack."

The hospital room was packed. It was the first time I'd ever seen so many of my friends actually show up for something.

They hadn't even managed to turn out like this for my wedding.

Diane Stone, my mother, was there too. She was such a germaphobe that she normally couldn't stand the slightest mess, yet now she was carefully wiping up Xena's vomit.

When I'd miscarried, she'd refused to come into my hospital room because she couldn't stand the smell of blood.

Wendy looked at me coldly.

"Jenna Stone, can you stop being so selfish for once? Do you have any idea you almost got someone killed?"

Diane glared at me. "You've gone too far. Did you not stop to think before posting something like that? Apologize to Xena. Now."

No one else said a word, but every face in the room was turned toward me, waiting for the same thing.

An apology.

Xena was the one who had crossed the line. She was the one who had spent five years taking wedding photos with my husband.

I was the one who had been betrayed.

And somehow, I was expected to apologize to her.

After a long silence, I finally forced out three words.

"Why should I?

"Did I tell her to interfere in someone else's marriage? Did I make her take those pills?"

Xena's face drained of color.

"I... interfered in your marriage?"

I pulled out my phone and brought up my marriage certificate with Sebastian, along with the video from our wedding.

"We got married five years ago. You've been involved with my husband for five years. How is that not interfering in my marriage?"

Before I'd even finished, my mother hurried to soothe her.

"Xena, don't listen to her. You and Sebastian are the real couple. We all know that."

Wendy's expression darkened too.

"Jenna Stone, what are you even talking about? Sebastian and Xena are the ones who are legally married."

The words hit me like a slap.

For a second, I couldn't even process them.

What did she mean... they were the ones who were legally married?

The moment Xena started getting upset, everyone rushed to calm her down and practically shoved me out of the room.

My hands were shaking as I opened the national government services portal and entered Sebastian's ID number.

When the page loaded, my blood seemed to freeze in my veins.

The official marriage record showed a photo of Sebastian and Xena.

The section where my information should have been was completely blank.

My marriage certificate was fake.

All at once, it felt like the air had been knocked out of me.

The wedding I'd looked forward to for so long. The rings we'd exchanged. The official-looking certificate with its government stamp.

Every last bit of it had been a lie.

No wonder hardly anyone had shown up for my wedding.

They had all known from the beginning that my "marriage" was nothing but a joke.

The hospital room door opened, and everyone exited the room after the doctor called for them.

When they saw that I was still standing there, awkwardness flickered across their faces.

My voice shook as I looked at them.

"Why?

"Why did all of you lie to me?"