Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

For three years, I was Ethan Sterling’s executive assistant. And for three years, I was his secret lover.

Finally, I thought I got what I had always waited for: a marriage license.

Until a freak accident in his study led me to a completely different marriage certificate.

In the spouse column, stamped in bold ink, was the name of his first love—the one he had never gotten over: Nicole Vance.

I rushed straight to the county clerk’s office to verify it. The clerk took one look at my paper and told me the bitter truth: my marriage to Ethan Sterling was completely fake.

The very day Nicole returned to the country, Ethan walked her into the company headquarters himself. Right in front of the entire staff, he announced, "This is my fiancée."

The next second, intimate photos of Ethan and me blew up on the internet, hitting the trending page instantly. Thousands of strangers flooded the comments, tearing me apart and branding me a shameless home-wrecker.

Ethan looked at me with pure, icy detachment, waiting for me to bow my head and apologize just like I always did.

Not this time. I am done serving you.

Ethan Sterling, you spent three years feeding me a web of lies. Now, I am going to make you pay for every single one of them.

Elena's POV

For three years, I was Ethan Sterling’s executive assistant. And for three years, I was his secret lover.

I knew every single one of his habits. I knew he took exactly half a sugar cube in his black coffee, and I knew that when his insomnia flared up, he needed a candle scented with silver fir burning beside his bed.

I also knew that the third shelf of the cedar bookcase in his private study was strictly off-limits.

Except for Ethan himself, nobody was ever allowed to touch it.

Today, though, the housekeeper accidentally knocked over a heavy stack of hardcover books while dusting. The impact jarred the bottom drawer—the one that had been locked for years—popping it open just an inch.

I knelt down to gather the fallen books, and my eyes immediately caught the dark crimson booklet tucked at the very bottom.

My heart skipped a beat. Three years ago, on a rainy afternoon, a heavily intoxicated Ethan had ordered his assistant to bring over two sets of documents for me to sign. He told me they were property transfer agreements. Later that same night, he handed me a certified marriage certificate and said coldly, "The paperwork is done. But given my status, we can’t make it public."

That certificate—the proof of my marriage—had been kept safe in my bedroom vault ever since.

My hand reached out, trembling slightly as I picked up the extra marriage certificate from the drawer. The second I flipped it open, the breath was knocked clean out of my lungs.

The names printed in the spouse column were unmistakably clear: Ethan Sterling and Nicole Vance.

The date of registration was October 12th, three years ago.

My fingertips shook uncontrollably. October 12th. I remembered that date down to the minute. It was the day after Nicole had left for Europe—and the exact same day Ethan had tossed that marriage certificate onto my desk.

Which one was real?

I didn't even grab a coat. Snatching my car keys, I bolted out of the villa, tore down the driveway, and sped all the way to the county courthouse.

Sitting across from the records clerk, I slid my ID and the marriage certificate I had brought from my safe through the glass partition.

"Excuse me, could you please verify my marital status?" My voice was tight, strung so thin it felt like it would snap.

The clerk typed away on her keyboard, her brow furrowing deeper with every keystroke. When she finally looked up at me, her eyes were filled with sharp suspicion. "Ma'am, this document is a forgery. There is zero record of a marriage between you and Ethan Sterling in our system."

A deafening buzz exploded inside my head.

"That's impossible... Could you please check Ethan Sterling's status, then? Is he married?"

The clerk clicked her mouse a few more times before speaking in a completely flat tone. "Ethan Sterling is legally married. His spouse is listed as Nicole Vance. Registered three years ago, on October 12th. Ma'am, forging official documents is a crime. Since it appears you were genuinely unaware, I'm confiscating and destroying this fake."

A fake.

The piece of paper I had treasured for three years, the one I touched every single night before going to sleep, was nothing more than a scrap of trash Ethan had used to keep me on a leash. When I walked out of the courthouse, the sky had turned a bruising gray. An icy gust of wind whipped dead leaves across the concrete, stinging against my thin sweater. I was shivering down to my marrow, my teeth chattering uncontrollably, yet I couldn't squeeze out a single tear.

Three years of living together as husband and wife.

I truly thought I was Ethan’s secret bride, hidden away from the spotlight. But the truth was, I wasn't even a wife at all. In the eyes of the law, and in the depths of Ethan Sterling’s heart, I had never been anything more than a dirty little secret.