Chapter 3

Before long, two luxury cars pulled up at the hotel entrance. Many of the guests, curious to see what could happen, followed us in their own cars all the way to our destination.

When the cars stopped, I asked the driver to let Victor off.

Victor took off his sunglasses and looked around, his face turning red with rage as he yelled, "What the hell, Colin? You actually brought me to a cemetery? What's your plan?"

"Calm down, and just follow me," I assured him and led him a few steps forward until we stopped before a tombstone. "Now, take a good look. Whose tombstone is this?"

He gave the tombstone a half-hearted glance before throwing his head back and laughing. "Alright, alright. I'll admit you've gone all out, even going so far as to fake a tombstone to avoid a divorce. But Colin, it's useless.

"I don't care how much you spread rumors about her supposed death. You can't deny that she's the mother of my child."

Victor seemed to have lost all patience and gave me an ultimatum. "If you initiate the divorce now, I might still convince her to leave you some cash. Keep dragging this on, and you will end up miserable."

By then, even the usually calm Serena couldn't help but break into an exasperated laugh. She pulled out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it on the tombstone.

"Hey, Victor. Take a good look at the woman in the photo. Is she the same woman you spent Valentine's Day with?"

He stared at the photo on the tombstone. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he pointed at me and cursed, "You're a heartless bastard, Colin. I can't believe you had the nerve to put her photo on a tombstone just for this act!"

Seeing how determined Victor was to drag out the commotion in the otherwise peaceful cemetery, my friends couldn't take it anymore and started chiming in.

"Dude, are you out of your mind? Colin's wife died three years ago!"

"You can look it up online—the news about an avalanche at the ski resort three years ago, where a tourist died."

I watched Victor's face twist with both shock and anger, and I began to suspect that he might have been deceived.

"Does the Phoebe you know like skiing as well?" I asked.

He hesitated briefly before nodding. "Of course. She basically taught me how to ski."

"Victor, listen to me," I explained with a solemn look. "Three years ago, she went to a ski resort abroad and unfortunately got caught in extreme weather and an avalanche.

"She was buried under the snow, and the rescue team couldn't find her body even after searching for a week. They concluded that her body was swept off the cliff, and there was no chance of survival."

As I spoke, I pulled out my phone and showed him the photo of Phoebe's funeral.

Mr. and Mrs. Jackman stood in the most prominent position in the photo. "Her parents have accepted this tragedy. They were the ones who chose this cemetery and tombstone.

"Plus, all her official records prove her death. I'm sure you've been deceived. There's no way the woman who had your baby was Phoebe."

However, Victor's expression only shifted from confusion to shock, then eventually to anger under everyone's mocking stares.

"Enough with the nonsense, Colin! I already texted Pheebs in the car. She's coming right now to initiate the divorce!"

At that point, Serena had lost all her patience. She grabbed my hand and tried to comfort me. "He's insane. Let's not waste any more time on him and go back to the party, okay?"

Out of nowhere, Victor started snapping pictures of me and Serena again, still threatening to expose my so-called affair.

Just as I was about to turn around and leave with her, he jumped up, laughing as he waved toward the entrance of the cemetery. "Pheebs, you're here! I knew you'd come to my rescue!"