Chapter 7

Michael let go of Chloe's hand instantly, subtly taking a step backward.

The sheer humiliation burned straight through Chloe's heart.

She thought she would break down sobbing, but her heart felt as if it had been scraped raw with a dull blade.

She felt numb and broken, yet she was unable to shed a single tear.

"No... that's impossible..."

Her mother's face turned deathly pale. Her frame trembled violently as she gasped for air.

"My Chloe... she would never do such a thing..."

Before her sentence finished, every phone in the room pinged with notifications.

Sarah gasped dramatically, turning her screen toward Michael with shaking fingers.

"Michael, look! Someone posted screenshots in our college alumni group!

"Messages of Chloe flirting with other men... and proof she was sleeping around for money!"

Chloe stood frozen. She unlocked her phone, watching as vicious comments flooded the screen.

[Unbelievable. She always acted like a saint, but she was this wild behind closed doors?]

[Look at those texts! So pathetic and desperate. I used to think she was pure. Disgusting.]

[Right? She used to say flirtatious things to me back in school. She was trying to seduce me all along!]

"Lies... it's all lies!" Her mother struggled to sit up, her frail fingers shaking over her phone keyboard.

[Stop it! Chloe is not like that! These are fakes! I will take legal action against every single one of you!]

Her message defending Chloe was instantly drowned out by cruel mockery.

Sarah leaned in close, her voice dripping with pity.

"Mrs. Wright, don't be angry. Chloe was just young and reckless back then..."

Her mother shoved Sarah's hand away, her faded eyes locked onto her with pure fury.

"Sarah! Did you do this?! You ungrateful snake! How dare you frame my daughter after everything I did for you?!"

"Mrs. Wright, how could you say that?" Sarah bit her lip, looking deeply wronged.

She pulled a marriage certificate from her bag and threw it onto the bed.

"Take a look at this. Michael and I have been legally married for years. Chloe is the mistress who stole my husband!

"She used a fake marriage certificate to deceive you all along. I only endured it out of gratitude to you!"

Her mother's eyes landed on the bright document. Her pupils contracted sharply.

With trembling hands, she picked up the marriage certificate and opened it.

There was the photo of Michael and Sarah standing side by side, stamped with an official seal.

All the strength drained from her body and she collapsed backward into the pillows.

Chloe stared in complete disbelief. It looked just like her own marriage certificate, except that Sarah's name and photograph appeared beside Michael's.

She shook her head frantically, a sharp, searing pain tearing through her chest.

"No! How is that possible... I'm the one who registered the marriage with Michael! How..."

Tears streaming down her face, her mother turned a hopeless gaze toward Michael.

"Michael... what Sarah is saying… is it true?"

Chloe raised her bloodshot eyes, fixing her gaze on Michael.

He had talked so much about fairness.

Was even their grand wedding nothing more than a fake performance?!

Michael stayed silent for a long moment before nodding softly.

"Mom, don't worry. I will take good care of both of them..."

Before he could finish, her mother gasped, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Her eyes, which had once been bright and kind, were now bloodshot and filled with unbearable sorrow.

Slowly, the light inside them faded into nothingness.

Her fingers, still clutching the marriage certificate, slipped loose.

"Mom!!!"