Chapter 2.

The front door clicked shut behind me.

Darkness and silence welcomed me home, but inside my chest, my heart felt as though it were about to explode. The excruciating pain squeezed my lungs until I collapsed onto the living room carpet.

With the last of my strength and my vision rapidly blurring, I crawled toward the desk. My trembling hand pulled open the bottom drawer, fumbling through the medicine box and knocking several bottles onto the floor. The moment I found it, I swallowed two heart pills without water before leaning my back against the desk. I closed my eyes, waiting for the medication to calm the frantic rhythm of my heart.

Fifteen minutes passed.

My breathing gradually steadied, though my chest still ached.

As soon as I felt well enough, I wasted no time. I stood and walked to the personal safe in the corner of the room. I took out every property certificate, every land ownership document, and every personal savings record registered under my name. The wealth, the luxurious mansion, and the shares we enjoyed today had all been built with my sweat and blood while I stood beside Kael from the very beginning. During those difficult years, I had sacrificed everything to help him reach the pinnacle of success.

I wasn't going to let Merry have even a single penny that rightfully belonged to me.

My eyes drifted to our wedding portrait displayed elegantly on the wall. In the photograph, Kael smiled affectionately as he wrapped an arm around my waist. His eyes were filled with love.

The very same look he had given Merry and that little girl at the birthday celebration.

Disgust stabbed through my heart.

How foolish I had been to trust this man for five years.

I took the portrait down, wrapped it in a black cloth, and instructed one of the housemaids to store it away in the basement.

Then I continued packing several changes of clothes into a suitcase while placing all the important documents into a separate briefcase. I was not a foolish woman who could simply be cast aside. Once I walked away from that lying man, I would make sure I would never have to live in poverty.

The next day, Kael came home.

He walked into the bedroom wearing an innocent expression, carrying an elegant jewelry box in his hand—the classic shield to cover up the lies behind another so-called "business trip."

I swear I did everything I could to act normal.

I wore the same calm, innocent expression as Aluna, the woman who had spent the last five years believing every single word that came out of his mouth.

"I bought this diamond necklace at an auction. I competed against countless collectors just to get it for you, Aluna," he said gently as he walked toward me.

If I hadn't witnessed the bitter truth last night, those words would have made me the happiest wife in the world.

But now, hearing his voice and those sweet lies only made my stomach churn.

"Thank you, Kael," I replied, forcing a faint smile onto my stiff lips.

Kael stepped behind me, unclasped the necklace, and fastened it around my neck. Reflected in the mirror, the dazzling white diamond symbolized eternal and pure love—a cruel joke built upon a relationship already stained by deception.

As Kael lowered his head to kiss my neck, my body instinctively stiffened. I quickly stood and gently stepped away.

"You must be exhausted from your trip. You should get some rest."

Kael looked slightly surprised, but he simply nodded and let me leave.

I walked downstairs with my handbag and coat in my hands.

Waiting for me on the first floor was my mother-in-law, Anna Gostav, her arms crossed as she deliberately blocked my path.

"Aluna, where are you going so early in the morning?" she asked sarcastically.

"Where else would she be going? To the hospital for another heart checkup," Rachael, my younger sister-in-law, who was in her final semester of college, chimed in as she walked out of the kitchen, casually sipping her coffee.

My mother-in-law let out a heavy sigh before speaking in a sharp, cutting tone.

"I think Kael made the biggest mistake of his life when he chose you as his wife. He has to spend the rest of his life paying medical bills for a useless woman. You can't even give him a child, Aluna."

"You're nothing but a burden!" Rachael added without the slightest hesitation.

"Don't you feel sorry for Kael? Why don't you just divorce him? Then he can finally be happy with a healthy woman instead of someone as sick as you," my mother-in-law continued relentlessly.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

Taking a slow, deep breath, I fought to keep my anger from triggering another heart attack.

Neither of them knew that the man they admired so much had already burned my entire world to ashes.

"Don't worry, Mother," I said flatly, meeting the older woman's eyes. "Starting today, I won't be a burden to Kael anymore."

Then I turned my cold gaze toward Rachael.

"And you, Rachael, should learn to stand on your own feet instead of wasting your brother's money."

Their expressions instantly darkened.

Neither of them had expected such a sharp response from the woman who had remained silent for the past five years.

Ignoring their outrage, I walked straight toward the garage.

The car and my suitcase had been prepared since four o'clock that morning.

I slipped into the driver's seat, started the engine, and slowly drove away. As I reached the front gate, I glanced into the rearview mirror. That magnificent house had once been filled with beautiful memories, but now they had all turned into nothing more than garbage.

I pressed down on the accelerator, leaving everything behind as I headed straight for the Civil Registry Office to file for divorce.

When I arrived, the office felt unbearably cold.

A clerk carefully examined the marriage documents I had submitted, which I understood to be the first requirement for initiating our divorce proceedings.

Then the clerk frowned.

His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard before he looked back at the papers in his hand.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Aluna Cleosan..." He looked at me with visible confusion. "There is no marriage record for you and Mr. Kael Gostav in our system."

My heart stopped.

"What do you mean? We were legally married five years ago."

The clerk turned the computer monitor toward me.

"According to our civil registration records, Mr. Kael Gostav has been legally married for six years. However, the woman listed as his lawful wife is Merry Dacko. Your name has never been registered as his legal spouse."

My world collapsed for the second time.

My vision spun, and my breath caught in my throat.

It wasn't just infidelity.

It wasn't just betrayal.

For the past five years, the marriage certificate I had treasured and proudly believed in had been nothing more than a forged document.

Legally, I had never existed as Kael's wife.

That man had deceived me over and over again, leaving not even the smallest fragment of the truth behind.