Ten Years Betrayed, I Took My Revenge

Chapter 5

So this was why Lucas had stuck by my side every minute and waited on me hand and foot these past few days. It wasn't guilt. It wasn't care. He was just afraid I would cause a scene and mess up his plans to pave the way for Vivian.

Once Lucas's footsteps faded away down the hallway and disappeared, I curled the corner of my mouth in self-mockery, pulled my phone out from under my pillow, and called Chloe. "Chloe, have you drafted my divorce agreement yet?"

There was silence at the other end of the line for several seconds, so long that I thought the call had dropped, before her thick, halting voice came through. "Emma... you and Lucas are not married. The marriage certificate you sent me to look at before is fake."

My whole body froze. A loud ringing buzzed in my ears.

I squeezed the phone tight in disbelief, my voice shaking. "What... did you just say?"

"It's true." Chloe's voice was careful and hesitant. "I asked someone to check. Your marital status is unmarried, and Lucas is divorced."

"His ex-wife is Vivian Knight. They only finalized the divorce two months ago. The embossed seal on your marriage certificate is forged, and the certificate itself... it's a counterfeit bought from a dollar store. You two are not legally married."

By the end of her words, Chloe was choking up. Back when I had that huge, sensational wedding that was the talk of the whole city, so many people envied me for marrying so well. But who could have guessed this marriage was rotten and fake right from its very core?

My hand trembling, I opened the inquiry screenshot she sent me. The pale glow of the screen illuminated my equally pale face.

Line after line of cold text, like poison-tipped needles, pricked me all over and made my eyes burn with pain.

My heart, which had been shattered countless times, had barely been pieced back together with every last bit of my strength. Now it was dealt another brutal blow, shattered so completely it crumbled to nothing.

I had unknowingly been the other woman in someone else's marriage for a full ten years.

How laughable.

I struggled out of bed, consumed by burning hatred, grabbed the cane by my bed, and limped furiously toward Lucas's office.

"Lucas Harrington, you're a monster!"

Lucas was initially confused by my sudden, unaccountable rage. It was not until he took the phone and pulled it up that his face slowly darkened, finally freezing on the chat record where I told Chloe that I wanted a divorce.

He jerked his head up. The panic in his eyes shifted to cold, menacing darkness. "You want to leave me?"

There was not a trace of warmth left on his face, nothing but mad, ravenous possessiveness. His whole aura was dark and terrifying. "I will never let you leave me."

My whole body trembled, but I still gritted my teeth and turned to leave.

I barely made it two steps before a searing jolt of pain hit my nape. Then, darkness swallowed everything, and I was out.