Chapter 2

When Nora finished speaking, Rick tried to reach out to her again, but she just brushed him off with an annoyed wave of her hand. Then, she turned around to leave with the baby in her arms.

I hurried over to them.

Picking Rick up, I stepped in front of Nora to block her path. "Nora, what's the meaning of this?"

She probably didn't expect to see me just then. She could also have been shocked that I had returned without her knowledge.

Either way, for a moment, she was rooted to the spot. Her gaze was filled with disbelief as she looked at me.

Some time later, Nora held the child in her arms closer to her. She spoke in a soft voice, but I could hear some guilt in her voice, which was quite rare. "Why… are you here?"

With that, she seemed to have realized something as she whipped her head up. She looked at Rick, who was wiping his tears. "Is this Rick?"

When I heard that, my gaze darkened, and I forced a bitter smile on my face.

Rick was already five years old, but even now, Nora failed to recognize her own biological son.

I asked, "Nora, aren't you going to explain yourself? You…"

Before I could finish my sentence, several cars pulled up at the entrance of the restaurant. A group of people spilled out of the cars.

I froze when I saw the man in the lead. My heart was instantly filled with agony.

"Long time no see, Adam."

It was Carl Moore, my half-brother.

Back then, he and his mother had destroyed my originally happy family. They forced my mother to her death and sent me to a mental hospital.

Faced with Carl's provocative gaze, I couldn't help but recall all the horrible experiences I had in the past. My body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Why are you standing out here? It's cold outside," Carl said affectionately as he put an arm around Nora's shoulders with practiced ease.

Even before I could say anything, Carl spoke up first. As if he were making sure everyone present could hear him, he said loudly, "Adam, Nora told me everything. You're so stubborn about being with her that you'd even willingly be the other man.

"But now, Nora and I already have a child, so please stop bothering her. She and I are already married. Do you really want to get in the way of other people's marriage, just like your mom did back then?"

In an instant, the crowd turned to look at me and began whispering among themselves. They were hurling insults at me.

Clenching my fists, I turned to look at the woman standing next to Carl. Then, I asked in a low voice, "Nora, is that true?"

But before Nora could say something, Rick shook off my hand and pulled out the marriage certificate from my backpack.

Approaching Nora, Rick took her hand and asked in a choked voice, "Mom, aren't you married to Dad? Why do you have a baby with someone else? Did I do something that made you upset? Mom, look, this is yours and Dad's marriage certificate. Dad always keeps it on him."

Carl stepped forward, ignoring Rick's protests as he grabbed the marriage certificate and examined it.

The next second, Carl held it up and waved it at me. He said in a mocking tone, "Adam, you've gone too far. This marriage certificate is fake. When are you going to stop lying to yourself? I mean, this certificate isn't even stamped!"

With that, Carl pulled out another marriage certificate from his bag. Then, he smiled as he handed it to me. "Here, this is what a real marriage certificate looks like. By the way, when Nora and I went to get our marriage certificate, I made sure to record the whole process. Take a good look at this."

Carl then showed me his phone. It was playing a video of them getting their marriage certificate.

In the video, Nora was smiling blissfully, but the sight was so unbearable that I almost teared up in pain.