Chapter 1
While cleaning my husband’s office, I found our torn and crumpled marriage certificate in the trash. Thinking it was a mistake, I went to the civil registry to get a new copy, only to discover the truth.
“There’s no registered marriage under your name with Mr. Johansen Smith,” she said. “But he is legally married. To a woman named Maureen Reid.”
Maureen. My cousin.
I stood there frozen, trying to process what she said. They’d been married for four years—long before Johansen and I ever walked down the aisle.
Worse, I overheard him talking to his friends later that day.
“Honestly? I loved Cassandra once,” he said. “But she left. Maureen was there. We got married. Then Cassandra came back and everyone expected us to be the golden couple. So I faked it. Why should I divorce Maureen? Cassandra’s family is rich. She’s useful. I can have both.”
That was the breaking point. I was done playing his fool. So I called my mother.
“Mom,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “About the marriage arrangement I once rejected for Johansen… I’m ready now. Please, prepare it for me.”
One week. I have to wait one week, and Johansen would be nothing but a bitter memory.
Or so I thought—until he showed up at my engagement party, eyes full of regret, pleading for a second chance… as if he hadn’t shattered me completely.
—
I had just finished folding the laundry when I walked into my husband Johansen’s home office, the one place I rarely touched. He didn’t like me “disorganizing” his work files, he’d say. But the floor was a mess—papers scattered near the trash can.
I bent down to pick them up when something caught my eye.
A crumpled, torn paper. At first, I thought it was just another work document he’d carelessly tossed, but when I smoothed it out, my heart skipped a beat. It was our marriage certificate.
My fingers trembled slightly as I stared at it. Was it a mistake? Did he accidentally throw it out? I smiled faintly at the thought—maybe he’d just needed a copy and tossed the old one. But still… why would anyone throw away something so important?
I decided to surprise him. Get a new one. Maybe even frame it—something meaningful, especially since it would be our wedding anniversary this week.
So I went to the marriage registry office that afternoon.
“Hi, I’d like to request a certified copy of our marriage certificate,” I said politely to the lady behind the counter. “Johansen Smith and Cassandra Ruiz. We were married three years ago.”
She typed quickly. Then frowned. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there’s no record of a marriage under those names.”
I blinked. “Sorry?”
She repeated it. “There’s no registered marriage for you and Mr. Johansen Smith. Are you sure about the date?”
“Yes. Absolutely. We’ve been married three years. I even have the certificate, it’s just torn—look, I brought it.” I took out the crumpled paper from my bag, smoothed it out on the counter.
She looked at it. Then gave me a strange look.
“This document… I’m afraid it’s not valid. It looks fabricated.”
My blood turned to ice.
“What do you mean… fabricated?” My voice was barely a whisper.
“Miss Ruiz, Mr. Smith has been legally married for the past four years to a woman named Maureen Reid. That’s the only marriage registered under his name.”
Maureen Reid. The words echoed like a siren in my head.
Maureen. My cousin.
My best friend since we were kids. The girl I trusted with everything. Including Johansen—especially Johansen—when I left to study fashion abroad six years ago.
It almost felt like a cruel joke. Because Johansen and I… we weren’t just a couple. We were the story everyone told their children when they talked about high school sweethearts.
We met during sophomore year. I was new—quiet, a little awkward—and he was the confident, charming boy who sat two rows behind me in Literature. He always had a pen to lend, always knew when I was having a bad day. He’d leave notes in my locker, walk me home even when it rained, and sneak my favorite snacks into my bag between classes.
By senior year, everyone called us “the married couple.” Teachers joked about our wedding, and friends teased us for being “that couple who’d last.” But the difference was—we believed it. So did everyone else.
He was always the first to cheer me on. When I got into the fashion program of my dreams overseas, he held me tighter than ever. “Three years,” I had told him, voice cracking. “That’s a long time, Jo.”
He kissed my forehead. “Not long enough to make me forget you. I’ll wait. I promise.”
I had cried in his arms that night, but I had left—because he told me to chase my dreams. And even across oceans and time zones, we never drifted.
Johansen called every morning, no matter how early it was. He sent me photos of his day, mailed me letters on our anniversaries, and FaceTimed me when I felt homesick. He never missed a single birthday or moment. Even Maureen, who was living just blocks away from him, used to say, “Johansen’s love for you could build bridges.”
She knew. She saw the way he looked at me—like I was the only thing that mattered.
When I returned three years later, I thought my life was falling into place again.
He greeted me at the airport with a bouquet of peonies—my favorite. I ran into his arms like a scene out of a movie. And two days later, in the middle of the candle-lit living room he’d decorated himself, Johansen got on one knee, tears already brimming in his eyes.
“I waited,” he said. “And I’ll keep waiting forever if I have to. Marry me.”
I said yes, sobbing, overwhelmed with love. And everything since then had felt like a dream: the ceremony, the moving in, the routines, the soft mornings and warm nights. For three years, I wore a ring he slid onto my finger. Called myself his wife.
Only to find out… it was all fake.
All of it.
A carefully constructed illusion to keep me believing while he lived a double life with my cousin behind my back.
The world around me tilted. My thoughts snapped when my phone buzzed.
Johansen: Hey, baby. Where are you? Coming home soon? I miss you.
Sweet. Just like always. Too sweet.
I didn’t reply. For the first time.
I drove back to our house and was about to head to my room when a sound from his office stopped me in my tracks.
A woman’s voice. Familiar.
“I’m serious, Jo… what if she comes back and sees us?”
Maureen. I froze.
“She won’t,” Johansen said confidently. “I texted her earlier. No reply. She’s probably out shopping or some nonsense. Besides, even if she walks in—who cares? You’re my wife. She just thinks she is.”
They laughed. I wanted to scream. I wanted to disappear.
He continued. “The fake certificate? Threw it in the trash this morning. Honestly, can’t believe how long she’s bought the whole thing. She’s so… stupid.”
Another laugh. Another soft voice. They were together. In my home. On the couch I bought. In the office I kept clean for him.
The betrayal was too sharp, too loud. I covered my mouth to muffle my sob. But it wasn’t enough.
My heart had been stomped on. Shattered. But I wouldn’t let them finish me.
With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone.
“Mom,” I whispered, voice shaking. “About that marriage arrangement you wanted me to consider with your business partner…”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I’m ready. Arrange it for me.”
