Chapter 2

My eyes went as wide as dinner plates. It was as though my blood had turned into ice at that very moment.

After slumping to the floor, I clutched my head and did my best to jog my memory about the day Edwin and I had supposedly registered our marriage. I needed to know what actually happened that day.

But for some reason, I couldn't recall anything related to that day. All I remembered was that I had drunk a glass of milk that Edwin had handed over to me on the night before the marriage registration. When I stirred awake afterward, I was already clutching a marriage certificate.

At that time, I was delighted, so I didn't take a good look at the certificate. Now that I did, I finally realized that it didn't sport an official seal.

As I stared at the marriage certificate, which had tricked me for the past five years, I realized that I was starting to falter.

If the marriage I had risked my life just to secure was a scam from the start, then why did I still suffer from endless pain when Edwin had cheated on me? Then what was all that for—me throwing away my pride and desperately trying to make him stay?

Was I nothing but a joke this whole time?

Just as I thought I was about to collapse, the lawyer that I had hired to divide my assets called me. There was a trace of sympathy in his tone.

"Ms. Shepherd, Jenna is registered as Mr. Reeves' spouse when it comes to distributing the marital assets. According to the law, you won't be able to obtain a single cent after going through the divorce proceedings."

I could only dig my nails into my palms, my eyes wide in shock. As soon as I blurted out the words "that's impossible", I instantly recalled that my mom was the one who had dealt with such procedures for me back in the day.

Mom knew that I had led an extremely difficult life when I was helping Edwin establish his company. I was pregnant at the time, yet I was forced to live in a basement while munching on instant noodles for three consecutive months. To secure Edwin's client list for him, not only did I drink to the point that my stomach bled, but I also had to burn the midnight oil just to come up with business proposals.

That was why Mom had threatened Edwin with a blade on the night before our marriage registration and made him swear that he would never betray me. Then, she took my identification documents from me, claiming that she'd put my name on all the assets Edwin owned.

I never doubted her at all. But to think that all this time, Mom had chosen to put Jenna's name on Edwin's assets instead…

I stared at the documents my lawyer sent, feeling so shaken that even my fingertips were trembling. I hoarsely thanked him and was about to pay him the consultation fees when I found out that all of my bank cards were frozen. At that point, I had only 16 dollars and 28 cents left.

Before I could inquire with my bank what on earth happened, I heard Mom's laughter drifting from the living room. She helped Jenna, who was done with her latest prenatal check-up, into the room with a smile on her face. Edwin could be seen walking alongside her while holding the check-up report.

Despite being surrounded by the two people who cared about her the most, Jenna still felt uneasy when she spoke up.

"Mom, I know that Reyna almost forced me to jump off the building today, but isn't it a little too much for Edwin to freeze all of her cards?"

Mom didn't harbor any guilt whatsoever for faking her death to trick me. Instead, she began making chicken soup for Jenna while replying, "That brat has too much wealth on her hands. She kept pulling off the hysterical act over the years because she had nothing to do.

"From now on, as long as both you and your baby are safe, we'll send her a day's worth of living expenses one at a time. Besides, if it weren't for the fact that Edwin didn't want you suffering with him while he was still establishing his company, Reyna wouldn't have had the opportunity to swoop in and steal him from you, to begin with."

Edwin fell silent for a moment, only to nod in agreement right away. Then, he patted Jenna gently on the head and told her not to overthink it. After all, he'd be there to resolve everything for her.

As for me, I dug my nails into my palms so hard that I started bleeding profusely.

It turned out that everything was a lie. My relationship with Edwin was a lie right from the start.

I thought that I had actually met my prince charming over the past decade. It turned out that this was nothing but an elaborate scheme everyone had put together just so Jenna could live a comfortable life.

That was why she was the one who had married Edwin and got her name listed on all of his assets.

I felt my throat closing up at the horrible realization. In my daze, I accidentally stumbled and knocked over the vase next to me.

The loud crash attracted the attention of the people in the living room downstairs.

Edwin was the first one to rush upstairs. The moment he noticed the blood on my palms, he immediately fetched a first aid kit and began tending to my wounds out of habit.

When he saw the opened bank app on my phone, he frowned impatiently right away.

"Must you go this far just because your cards got frozen, Reyna? Once Jen gives birth to the baby safely, I'll restore the access and the credit limit for you."

I had been in love with this man for ten long years. Even now, he refused to tell me the truth.

At this point, I was laughing so hard that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Finally, I handed over everything that I had dug up to Edwin.

"There's no need to explain anything to me, Edwin Reeves. It turns out that the marriage certificate of our five-year marriage is a lie. On top of that, I don't have any assets under my name.

"That means everything related to you has nothing to do with me."