"Excuse me, Ms. Harper, Mr. Sterling. Your replacement marriage certificate is ready." I froze in the middle of the County Clerk’s office. The man’s name was the exact same as my husband’s, and the woman’s name sounded strangely familiar. The clerk walked over to me, opened the marriage certificate, and pointed to the couple’s photo inside. "Ma'am, have you seen this woman?" Two intensely familiar faces stared back at me. The man in the photo was my "husband," Arthur Sterling. The woman was his college sweetheart, Chloe Harper. Right at that moment, a tall, stunning woman walked up to us and smoothly took the certificate from the clerk's hand. "I’m so sorry, I just had to run to the restroom." The woman then reached out to take the other copy from my hand, but my fingers locked around it. She offered a calm, polite smile. "Ma'am? Could you let go, please?" Only when the clerk gently reminded me did I finally snap out of my daze. I handed the certificate to the woman, forcing a smile onto my face. "You two make a beautiful couple." "Thank you," the woman said softly, turning and walking away. I stared at her back, my mind a chaotic mess. The clerk waved a hand in front of my face. "Ma'am? Are you alright?" I answered automatically, "The man in that photo doesn't just look exactly like my husband. They have the exact same name." "Pfft!" The clerk burst out laughing at my response. "Ma'am, the husband of the woman who just left is the CEO of the Sterling Group. He’s on the news all the time. Don't tell me you don't know who he is?" How could I not know the Sterling Group? How could I not know Arthur Sterling was its CEO? The clerk seemed to have found her favorite topic of gossip. "Those two big shots actually had a pretty rocky love story. Rumor has it they dated for years, even survived a long-distance relationship while she was studying abroad." "Ms. Harper went to the UK for her master's for four years, and Mr. Sterling waited for her that entire time." "They finally tied the knot two years ago. I was actually the one who processed their marriage license." "I heard that on the day they got their license, Mr. Sterling even launched a brand-new subsidiary company just to give to Ms. Harper as a wedding gift~" I was completely paralyzed. Arthur waited for Chloe for four years, and they got married two years ago. Then what the hell was I? I got my marriage certificate with Arthur three years ago. The Sterling Group was the empire Arthur and I built together from the ground up. When we got married three years ago, to prove my love and absolute trust in him, I transferred all of my shares in the company into his name. That was the only reason he reached the level of success he had today. How is it that I accompanied my best friend to the County Clerk’s office today, only to discover my husband is legally married to someone else, and my company has absolutely nothing to do with me anymore? I didn't even know he had launched a subsidiary company... After the clerk walked away, I stared blankly at the ceiling. I don't know how much time passed before my best friend, Mia, walked over with her new husband, hand in hand. They were beaming with happiness, holding their fresh marriage certificate. "Babe, thank you so much for taking time off work to be our witness today! Dinner tonight is on us. We're going somewhere fancy!" "Let's do it another time. I have a client dinner tonight." I didn't want to ruin their perfect day, so I forced a smile. They knew I was always incredibly busy, so they didn't push it. After reminding me a dozen times that I had to be at the wedding, we went our separate ways. My mind was a hornet's nest of anxiety. I wanted to storm into Arthur's office right that second and demand an explanation. I had absolutely no focus left for work, so I just went straight home. Today was Tuesday. It was the one day a week Arthur actually came home. Yes. Even though we were "married," his time only belonged to me on Tuesday nights. He always said he was busy, that his workload as a CEO was crushing. I used to complain about it, but every time I did, he would tell me that we were still young. That we needed to grind and build our empire now, so we could enjoy the rest of our lives later. Just like every other Tuesday, I cooked a massive, elaborate dinner and texted a photo of it to Arthur. "Waiting for you to come home for dinner." The moment the text delivered, he called me. To the outside world, he was an aloof, untouchable executive. But with me, his voice was always filled with warmth. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I have a crucial client dinner tonight that I can't get out of. Don't wait up for me." My throat felt incredibly tight. He was still calling me "baby," calling me his wife. Could he really have been legally married to another woman for two years? "Baby? Are you there?" Arthur's voice pulled me back to reality. "It's fine. No matter how late it is, I'll wait for you..." He replied softly, "Okay. No matter how late the dinner goes, I promise I'll come home and sleep next to you..." After hanging up, I looked at the table full of beautiful food and shook my head helplessly. I knew in my heart that his so-called "client dinner" was almost certainly a celebration with Chloe for getting their replacement marriage certificate. ... It wasn't until 2:00 AM that Arthur finally walked through the door. He was still sober, but he looked physically exhausted. A distinct wave of perfume washed over me. It was the exact same scent I had smelled earlier today. On Chloe Harper. He seemed incredibly guilty. He buried his face in my neck, abandoning his usual stoic demeanor, and sounded genuinely apologetic. "I'm so sorry, baby... making you wait up so late..." I tried to keep my voice as steady as possible. "Arthur, you have to be at the office early tomorrow, so I'll keep this brief." "I have a new idea. Can we open a new subsidiary company under the Sterling Group umbrella?" The moment I mentioned work, he snapped into CEO mode. "We barely have the bandwidth to manage the main company right now. Why would we open a subsidiary?" I watched his face closely. When I brought up the idea of a subsidiary, his expression didn't change a single fraction of an inch. I nodded slightly, explaining my reasoning. "I just want to take some of the burden off your shoulders. Once the subsidiary is up and running, your workload on the main operations will be much lighter." Hearing that, his eyes softened drastically. He pulled me close, leaning his weight against me. "It's fine. If everything fails, I'll just become a butcher and support you." "What?" I was caught off guard by the joke. He pulled a sleek folder out of his briefcase and gently opened it while leaning against my chest. "Look. This is the Vanguard Investment proposal. I finalized it yesterday. It's a two-hundred-million-dollar deal." "The capital injection is massive. I want you to personally oversee this project. Let's put a pin in the subsidiary idea until this deal is fully executed, okay?" Before I could even respond, he kissed me deeply. "Baby, time is money, and we only get one night a week. I need you..." I closed my eyes, enduring his kiss. The desperate hunger he was showing... was it all just an act? When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone. He was notoriously disciplined; he absolutely had to be at his desk before 8:00 AM every single day. He had left the Vanguard investment portfolio on the coffee table, along with a sticky note. "Baby, head out today. The Vanguard headquarters is in Seattle. It's not too far..." "You can fly home every Tuesday. That's my selfish request." This perfectly curated sweetness... contrasting it with everything I had learned yesterday made it feel horrifyingly surreal. Refusing to believe it without seeing it with my own eyes again, I took our marriage certificate and went back to the County Clerk's office. When I walked out of those doors, the anxiety that had been keeping me suspended in mid-air finally plummeted, shattering on the concrete. The clerk confirmed it directly to me. Our marriage certificate was a fraudulent document. Arthur Sterling was legally married, and his spouse was Chloe Harper. Walking past a street corner, I tore our fake marriage certificate into a hundred tiny pieces like a madwoman, throwing them into the air like confetti. Watching the pieces drift down over my head, scenes from the past flashed vividly in my mind. Arthur and I met in the winter six years ago. Doing the math, that was exactly the year Chloe left the country to study abroad. Back then, I was a Senior Advertising Director at a major agency, and he was a fresh graduate hired onto my team. At the end of that year, the agency underwent massive layoffs, cutting our entire department. At our farewell dinner, fueled by liquid courage, I announced I was starting my own agency and asked if anyone wanted to join me. Most of them laughed it off, politely declining with various excuses. But Arthur... Arthur looked me dead in the eye and said he believed in me, and he stayed to help me build the business from the ground up. We huddled together through the freezing startup winter, and gradually, we fell in love. With that bond, we poured our blood, sweat, and tears into the company. It finally took off, and we achieved the life we had always dreamed of. Regarding Chloe, Arthur never tried to hide her existence initially. He told me straightforwardly that his college sweetheart was named Chloe, and that after graduation, forced to choose between him and a master's degree in London, she chose London. One night, completely drunk, he told me he hated her. He hated her because she threw him away without a second thought to chase her own ambitions. It wasn't until today that I finally understood. Arthur's hatred for Chloe instantly reverted back to love the exact second she stepped off that plane back in America. To accommodate that, he meticulously planned ahead, tricking me with a fake marriage certificate. To Arthur, I was his business partner. Chloe was the only woman who ever truly held his heart. The reason he was going to such extreme lengths to hide it from me now was probably because he felt a sense of gratitude toward me and didn't have the heart to crush me. Thinking back on everything we had been through, a bitter resentment gnawed at my soul. I loved too deeply. He lied to me, yes, but I refused to believe that he hadn't felt a single genuine spark for me over the last six years. I didn't fly to Seattle to negotiate the Vanguard deal. Instead, I drove straight to the subsidiary company Arthur had launched—the Harper-Sterling Group. In the sleek glass conference room of the Harper-Sterling Group, Chloe and I sat across from each other. Faced with my direct confrontation, she openly and graciously admitted she had known about me the entire time. Even yesterday at the County Clerk's office, she knew exactly who I was. Because she was Arthur's actual, legal wife, she spoke to me with the casual superiority of someone holding all the cards. "Anna, right? Arthur actually mentioned you to me, and he explained the dynamic between you two." "While I understand why he did it, I also want to thank you. You're the one who elevated Arthur to the level of success he has today." "But gratitude doesn't mean I'm going to step aside. I made the wrong choice six years ago, and I am absolutely not letting him go this time." Arthur had told her about me, and she was completely fine with the arrangement. And me? From beginning to end, I was played for an absolute fool, and Arthur never told me a single shred of the truth. My chest tightened with a sour ache, but I pulled a legal document from my briefcase. "This is a stock transfer agreement for this subsidiary." "If you sign this, the Harper-Sterling Group will be entirely severed from the main Sterling Group conglomerate. From this day forward, this company is 100% yours." "I only have one condition. Leave him. Give him back to me." "You still don't understand the dynamic between the three of us." "The woman he truly loves is me. He just doesn't have the heart to destroy his former benefactor." Chloe's words were calculated to inflict maximum damage. Her expression suddenly hardened. "Anna, our relationship will not be swayed by any external factors anymore!" "Even if it means losing absolutely everything, I am going to be with Arthur!" And just like that, two women were deadlocked in a corporate boardroom, fighting over one man. A few moments later, the tension on Chloe's face broke into a subtle, chilling smile. "Tell you what. Let's let Arthur choose between us himself." "The one who gets left behind has to walk away and never interfere again. Deal?" I frowned, narrowing my eyes. "What exactly do you mean?" Chloe leaned across the table, whispering her psychotic plan into my ear... As the sun began to set, Arthur received an anonymous video message. In the video, Chloe and I were both tied to wooden chairs. The camera panned, revealing a figure wearing a ski mask. "CEO of the Sterling Group, Arthur Sterling. These two women are supposedly the most important people in your world." "If you don't want anything bad to happen to them, liquidate every liquid asset you have and bring the cash to the roof of the abandoned development project in the West Ward!" "Come alone. If you call the cops, I swear to God they die first!" Two hours later, Arthur actually showed up alone on the roof of the abandoned high-rise. He first looked at Chloe, his eyes full of agonizing heartbreak, then he looked at me, his gaze heavy and unreadable. Finally, he turned to the masked man, pulling a sleek black titanium card from his jacket pocket. "Everything you asked for is on this card. Let them go." The kidnapper verified the funds on a tablet, his voice laced with mocking approval. "Mr. Sterling is a man of his word. But I think I want to play a little game today." "You can only take one of these women with you. The other one gets pushed off this roof. You choose." Arthur erupted in fury. "I am taking both of them!" The kidnapper didn't say a word. He just grabbed the backs of our chairs with his massive arms and began dragging us toward the unprotected edge of the ten-story drop. "If you don't choose, I'll throw both of them off right now!" Arthur panicked. A raw, unprecedented terror took over him. He ground his teeth together audibly. "Wait!" "So... only one of them survives today. Is that the deal?" The kidnapper didn't answer verbally, just gave a slow, deliberate nod. At the very last possible second, Arthur raised a shaking hand and pointed at Chloe. "I... I choose her!" Chloe shot me a subtle, sideways glance. A victorious smile bloomed across her face. I sat there, gasping for air like a fish thrown onto dry land, staring blankly at the scene unfolding in front of me. I stared dead into Arthur's eyes, screaming at the top of my lungs, demanding to know why. But Arthur, perhaps consumed by guilt, didn't dare look at me for even a fraction of a second. After the kidnapper untied Chloe, the two of them practically ran for the stairwell. The kidnapper pulled off his ski mask, then walked over and untied the ropes binding me. He let out a mocking scoff. "Ms. Anna, you lost." "According to your agreement with our CEO, Ms. Harper, you are never to appear in front of Mr. Sterling again." I nodded slowly, a look of absolute, hollow despair settling onto my face as I managed a weak smile. "Don't worry. I'm a woman of my word." I sat alone on the roof of the abandoned building for a very long time. Finally, I pulled out my phone and dialed a highly secure number. "It's... it's over between us. From today on... he no longer needs my protection..." "I want to treat this all like a bad dream. I want to destroy every single thing tying us together. Starting with the Sterling Group..." It was time for me to go. Arthur chose Chloe. I bet, and I lost fair and square. He abandoned me. So he can abandon the empire I built for him, too.
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