Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I quietly put the projector back where it was and walk into the kitchen like nothing happened.
Let's see if my son would really help his dad hide something like this from me.
Not long after, my son Claire Steele walks out of his room, clings to me, and whines about not wanting to do homework.
His sweet, soft voice makes me relax a little.
Maybe I'm just overthinking. My son would never betray me. Not when we're this close.
But then, his next words knock the air out of my chest.
"Mom, can I play with the projector Dad gave you? I swear I won't break it, please?"
I stare at him, frozen. He notices something's off but keeps tugging at my sleeve like nothing's wrong.
"I know it's from Dad and it's like, his love for you... so I should ask him first, right?"
Claire catches on that I'm not into the idea, so he decides to call in backup. Before I can even say no, he's already calling someone on his smartwatch.
"Dad, can I do my homework a bit later today? I wanna watch something on the projector you gave Mom..."
Andrew Steele puts on an act and scolds him to focus on school, then turns around and starts coaxing me.
"Babe, he's our only kid. Just let him use it for a bit, alright? I'll make sure he finishes his homework later, I'm just tied up with stuff right now."
But I clearly hear a woman's voice in the background. I force a laugh and tell Claire to go play in his room.
I still can't believe that my husband and my own son, working together to fool me. For eight years!
Suddenly, I remember Andrew mentioning the "fake marriage certificate" and rush to our bedroom to dig through our documents.
I found it!
The phony-looking seal on the certificate confirms everything I read from that projector message.
Back then, when we first got married, Andrew insisted on keeping the certificate himself. Said he was scared I'd regret marrying him. If I didn't have the certificate, I couldn't divorce him.
I was so happy then and flattered that he cared me so much.
Now those words make me sick. He didn't want a divorce?
How do you even divorce someone when you were never legally married?
While I'm spiraling, Andrew walks in like nothing's happened and heads straight to Claire's room.
I snap pictures of everything I found and hide them away.
"Honey, I know that projector means a lot to you, but Claire's not gonna break it. Why won't you let him use it?"
The way he's testing me just confirms it—he's scared I'll confront that woman.
When I don't respond, he starts to panic.
"Say something! Did you even turn the projector on?"
I let out a bitter laugh and look at Andrew Steele, swallowing my rage and faking surprise.
"Nope, haven't turned it on yet. Why? Is there something wrong with it?"
