Chương 4 - Người Đàn Ông Đến Từ Singapore

I understood each one.

Together, they made no sense.

“What do you mean it isn’t real?”

He didn’t answer.

I stepped toward him.

“What do you mean?”

“Claire—”

“Say it.”

“The paperwork was never filed.”

I stared at him.

“But I have a certified copy.”

His face told me before his mouth did.

“No.”

I backed up.

Principal Harris said my name, but I barely heard her.

“The seal.”

“Claire.”

“The certificate number.”

He looked at the floor.

My fingers went numb.

“You forged it.”

“No, I—”

“Did you forge my marriage certificate?”

Tessa made a sound behind me.

Her mother muttered, “Oh my God.”

Daniel finally said, “My mother handled the document.”

I laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

My body had run out of better reactions.

“You had a fake wedding with me.”

“It wasn’t fake to me.”

“Stop.”

“We had the ceremony. We said vows.”

“Stop talking.”

“I loved you.”

“Stop.”

Tessa was crying again.

“You told me she was your ex.”

Daniel turned.

“Tessa, I can explain.”

“When did you end things with her?”

He said nothing.

Tessa’s face changed.

“You didn’t.”

“Tessa—”

“You never ended it.”

“I was trying to—”

“You were sleeping with both of us.”

Her mother stepped between them.

“You married my daughter.”

“Yes.”

“And you kept that woman?”

That woman.

I barely reacted.

Daniel reached for Tessa.

She slapped his hand away.

Then she looked at me.

“How long?”

“Fourteen years.”

She stared.

“What?”

“I’ve been with him since high school.”

Her face emptied.

I continued because I needed somebody besides me to hear it.

“We had a wedding five years ago. His mother arranged the officiant. He gave me the certificate afterward.”

Daniel said, “Claire, please.”

“I was pregnant.”

Tessa froze.

Her eyes moved to Daniel.

I said, “Our daughter died five years ago.”

I gave her the date.

Noah’s birthday.

Tessa covered her mouth.

Daniel stepped toward me.

“Claire, don’t do this here.”

“Why? Because now the dates make you look bad?”

“I know how it looks.”

“How it looks?”

My voice cracked for the first time.

“I was in a hospital losing our daughter while you were with her.”

Tessa whispered, “Daniel.”

He didn’t look at her.

Something inside me snapped.

I hit him.

One slap.

Hard enough that his head turned.

Everyone gasped.

I didn’t care.

Tessa immediately moved between us.

“Don’t touch him.”

I stared at her.

She cupped Daniel’s face.

“Are you okay?”

Blood had appeared at the edge of his lip.

He nodded.

“I’m fine.”

And there it was.

Even now, someone was protecting him.

When I lost Lily, no one came.

When Tessa saw a split lip, she moved like the world was ending.

Tessa turned on me.

“I’m calling the police.”

“Good.”

I pulled out my phone.

“Claire,” Daniel said quickly.

I looked at him.

“No. I’m calling them first.”

His expression changed.

“For what?”

I dialed.

“For giving me a forged government document and using it to keep me in a fake marriage for five years.”

He reached toward the phone.

“Claire, wait.”

I stepped back.

“Don’t touch me.”

The call connected.

Daniel finally looked afraid.

The police came because there had already been a physical altercation at the school.

Tessa’s mother admitted slapping me.

I admitted slapping Daniel.

Security footage showed both.

But the forged marriage document became a separate issue almost immediately.

The responding officer didn’t stand there and solve it.

He took information.

Photographed the document on my phone.

Told me to preserve the original.

Advised me not to destroy messages or financial records.

Principal Harris sent everyone home.

I left school with my face still burning and drove straight to the locked box under my bed.

I took out the document I had protected for five years.

Heavy paper.

Embossed-looking seal.

Official formatting.

I ran my fingers over my own name.

Claire Morgan.

Daniel Price.

I had built my life around a piece of paper somebody had printed for me.

The next morning, I went to the county office myself.

There was no marriage record.

None.

Not delayed.

Not misfiled.

Not under another variation of my name.

Nothing.

Daniel Price had legally married Tessa Walker five years earlier.

Seven days after I lost Lily.

I sat in my car outside the county building for almost an hour.

Then I called an attorney.

Rachel Kim listened without interrupting.

When I finished, she said, “I want you to separate what you know from what you suspect.”

So we did.

I knew Daniel had given me a document represented as proof of marriage.

I knew the county had no record.

I knew Daniel admitted the document wasn’t real.

I knew his mother arranged it.

I knew he had legally married Tessa.

I knew I had lived with Daniel as my husband for years because I believed we were married.

I did not know who physically created the document.

I did not know what Daniel’s mother had told that person.

I did not know what Daniel had paid for.

Yet.

Rachel told me not to confront anyone.