[1]

“Mm… slow down, Adrian.”

The voice stopped Tara in her tracks just as she reached the door to her husband’s study. It was familiar—far too familiar. For a moment, she wondered if she had misheard.

“…There’s no way I can go slow when it’s you.”

Tara’s heart seemed to stop. That voice… Adrian?

She didn’t notice when her breathing turned shallow, uneven. Her hand moved instinctively, searching for something to steady herself. Her fingertips brushed the edge of a small table near the door, gripping it tightly—as if letting go would make her collapse right there.

She stepped closer, almost soundlessly, though every inch felt unbearably heavy. Her legs trembled, her head buzzed—but the voices beyond the door were too clear to ignore.

A soft gasp slipped through the air, followed by a quiet laugh that made Tara’s blood run cold.

“Adrian…” the woman murmured, her tone soft, indulgent—intimately familiar. “You really can’t control yourself, can you?”

Tara squeezed her eyes shut.

No. No, that wasn’t possible.

“You think I’d ever take it easy when I’m with you, my Kara?” Adrian chuckled.

Kara.

The name struck her like a blow. Tara’s grip on the table tightened, her knuckles paling as her nails dug into the wood. She felt nothing. No pain.

Her whole body had gone numb.

“What if Tara finds out?” Kara let out a soft, amused laugh, as though savoring something far beyond the conversation itself. “What do you think her face would look like?”

Adrian laughed with her—carefree, unbothered. “She won’t find out. She trusts me too much… believes I love her,” he said lightly. “That just makes everything easier.”

The air left Tara’s lungs.

“Sometimes I wonder,” Kara continued, her voice laced with quiet mockery, “how she’s managed not to notice anything. Even after everything we’ve done.” A soft moan slipped from her lips again.

“Because she never really looks,” Adrian replied. “She just accepts whatever we show her… and believes it, sweetheart.”

Tara bit down on her lip, forcing back even the faintest sound. She wanted to leave. To run—far, far away from this place. But her feet wouldn’t move.

As if something inside her was holding her there…

Demanding that she stay—and listen to every word.

“Speaking of which…” Kara’s voice slipped through between soft, breathy moans. “It’s almost funny, isn’t it? Every year she celebrates her ‘marriage’… when the marriage isn’t even registered under her name.”

Tara’s heart seemed to stop.

“I’ve been wondering,” Kara continued, her tone light, almost playful. “If she ever checks the civil records one day, do you think she’ll be shocked? Or completely shattered when she sees that the name listed there is mine?”

Tara froze. Her fingers dug harder into the edge of the table, her vision beginning to blur.

“She won’t go that far,” Adrian replied calmly. “And even if she does… it won’t matter anymore.”

“Besides,” he added, his voice turning cold again, “we just need to wait until the Neo Group project is finished.”

Neo Group.

The massive project Adrian was leading—and the one Tara had been managing from the very beginning.

“Most of the clients only trust Tara,” he went on. “Her reputation is what’s keeping everything running. We still need her.”

“And after that?” Kara asked softly.

“I’ll get rid of her.”

The words fell so easily. No hesitation. No emotion.

As if Tara were nothing.

As if the five years she had given him meant absolutely nothing at all.

The world tilted around her. Her grip weakened, her body swaying—but she forced herself to stay upright.

Don’t fall. Not now. You must stay strong.

“Good,” Kara said, a faint smile in her voice. “I’m already tired of pretending.” She let out a soft, satisfied breath. “Then for our fifth wedding anniversary, let’s make it grand. Something that fits our real status. What do you think, darling?”

“Of course,” Adrian replied easily. “Do whatever you want.”

Outside the door, something inside Tara finally shattered—completely, irreparably.

The anniversary that was just around the corner…

the marriage she had held onto so tightly…

None of it had ever been hers.

Her breath trembled. Slowly, her fingers slipped from the table. She forced herself to stand straight, even as everything inside her felt hollow.

The civil registry office.

The thought surfaced suddenly, sharply.

“I need to go there…” she whispered under her breath. “I need proof. I need to see all of this for myself.”

Not long after, Tara stood inside the very office where her marriage had supposedly been registered.

“Miss Valmont, your name doesn’t appear in our marriage records.”

“That’s impossible,” Tara said, a strained laugh escaping her lips, disbelief clinging to every word. “Please… please check again.”

The officer let out a quiet sigh but complied, running the check again.

“This is the third time, Miss Valmont,” she said gently. “But your name—Tara Elise Valmont—is not listed on any marriage certificate.”

“That’s impossible!” Tara’s voice broke, sharp with disbelief. “I’ve been married to Adrian Ashbourne for five years.”

The words she had overheard outside Adrian’s study came rushing back, echoing mercilessly in her mind.

So all this time…

“As I mentioned, I’ve checked repeatedly,” the administrative staff continued patiently. “However, there is a record under your family name. Miss Kara Evangeline Valmont. She is registered as married to Adrian Lucien Ashbourne on April 22, 2022.”

The world seemed to collapse beneath Tara’s feet.

If not for the quick support of one of the staff members, she would have crumpled to the floor right then and there.

“This… this isn’t real, is it?” she whispered, her voice trembling as tears spilled down her cheeks. “This has to be a mistake… it has to be.”

“Would you like a copy?” the officer asked, clearly confused by Tara’s insistence since the moment she arrived—her desperate need to confirm whether her name existed in the records at all.

“…Can I have it?”

Moments later, a copy of the marriage certificate was placed in her hands.

And at that exact moment, her phone rang.

“Tara, it’s me. Victor.”

The voice on the other end made her pause.

“Mr… Victor?”

“Goodness, Tara,” he chuckled lightly. “Have you already forgotten your father-in-law?”

Of course she hadn’t. There was no way she could forget Victor Ashbourne. But why was he calling her?

“Yes, Mr. Vic—”

“Daddy, Tara,” Victor corrected, his tone firm but not unkind. “Why are you being so formal with me? You’re my daughter-in-law.”

Tara swallowed, steadying herself, forcing her voice to calm down. “Yes… Daddy. What is it?”

“Pick me up at the airport in two hours. I’m on my way to Holland City,” he said. Then, after a brief pause, his tone lowered slightly. “And don’t tell Adrian I’m coming. You can do that, can’t you?”