Lyra's POV
"This certificate… doesn't exist in our records."
The clerk's voice sounded distant, as if it were coming from underwater.
I stared at the paper in my hands, at the very thing I had held sacred for five years now--my marriage certificate. Then at the clerk, and my lips flat-lined into a nervous smile.
"That can't be right," I said quietly, voice trembling a bit, despite myself. "Check it again. There must be some mistake somewhere."
Across the counter, the middle-aged woman gave me a sympathetic look, hesitated, and typed something into the computer again.
My pulse thundered in my ears as I watched her and the seconds ticked by. There was no way the marriage certificate could have been fake. Adrian had claimed he'd filed it after our wedding. He couldn't possibly lie to me. He wouldn't make me live a lie for five years. He wouldn't do that to me.
I shut my eyes tight for a moment, fingers tightening on the certificate in my hands, though I tried my best not to have it crease too much to tear.
Adrian just couldn't do this to me. He couldn't...
My eyes opened to the hall, to the clerk, back to the impending news that all I had loved and cherished for five years was a lie.
The clerk typed away on the keyboard for another minute, then finally, she shook her head again.
An act so simple, yet it sent a chilling cold slithering up my spine, freezing my bones.
"I'm sorry, Miss Valen." She whispered, low and gentle as to be sympathetic. "I've checked three times. But the registration number printed here belongs to a completely different document."
I felt my stomach drop, sinking into a bottomless abyss I didn't know existed inside of me.
"What document?" I asked, hoping against all odds that it was a marriage certificate.
The clerk hesitated before answering, glancing briefly at the screen again.
"A property transfer certificate… registered six years ago," she whispered. Another attempt at sympathy.
But no amount of sympathy could ease the sorrow crowding my heart.
I dropped back from the counter, my mind ticking fast like a clock. How was this possible? I had stood side by side with Adrian when we signed the marriage certificate on our wedding day, and we had smiled and laughed with the guests while we did. Moisture burned behind my eyes as every memory I had cherished for five years collapsed like a fragile house of cards.
I swallowed hard. "Are you absolutely certain?" I asked the clerk again, praying it was all some mistake, some clerical error that could be rectified, something... as long as it wasn't going to tell me I hadn't been living a lie for years now.
But the clerk nodded. "Yes," she said gently. "If you'd like, you can file a report for document fraud."
Fraud.
The word echoed through my mind like a gunshot. Is that all my marriage to the man I loved had all been--a fraud.
"Thank you," I mumbled numbly to the clerk and stepped out of the building.
The cold evening air struck my face in a furious, mocking whiplash, and it did nothing to clear the fog that was now my thoughts.
Marcus, my chauffeur, had the back door open for me to step in.
But I just stood on the sidewalk, watching quietly as cars passed along the street, people laughing along the sidewalks, busy in their own private moments and thoughts.
The world continued as if nothing had happened, as if it cared nothing about me, as if my world hadn't just shattered.
I looked down at the certificate once more.
Five years.
Was it all a lie?
A slow, burning anger gradually began to replace the numbness in my chest.
How could Adrian do this to me? I had trusted him, loved him, given him control of my family's multibillion-dollar company I'd inherited, control of my pack, and made him Alpha. I had done all, believing I was getting love, trust, and companionship in return. It turns out all I was getting was actually a dagger in the back.
My grip on the paper tightened until I could hear the crushing, crumbling squeal in my ears.
Well, there was only one person who could explain all this, only one person who could confirm to me that this was either some elaborate mistake gone too far.
I dragged my weak legs into the backseat. The plush settee that had always offered comfort now felt like thorns around me.
The chauffeur got into the car, steering us back into the road.
The ride back to the pack castle was the longest journey I'd ever had. Each second felt like an agonizing year, each minute like a decade.
The gates to Valen Palace, my family's and pack's home, yawned open to receive us. The estate lights illuminated the long driveway leading up to the grand building. Before seconds were bleeding into years, now they bled into eternity.
I stepped out of the car, my heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as I walked inside.
The Deltas greeted me respectfully, the servants and maids bowed their heads too in submission to their Luna, but I barely noticed them.
My gaze was already fixed on the study doors at the end of the corridor, like a magnet to another.Adrian's secretary, Viviene pulled onto my way, her smile as bright as always. "My Luna, how was your day..."
I dismissed her with a wave of my hand. She had a glimpse of the rage I was hauling with me and she dropped back quickly from my path.
My heartbeat quickened as I pushed the doors to his office open.
Adrian looked up from behind the desk.
Tall, handsome, and impeccably dressed as always, reminding me of one of the many reasons I had stupidly fallen head over heels in love with him. His blue eyes softened the moment he saw me, his lips widening in a warm smile.
I'd always cherished that smile. Now it was no better than a thorn to my heart, stripping it of feeling.
"Lyra? You're back earlier than I expected," he called. His calm expression only made the fury rising in my veins burn hotter, like lava.
I ignored whatever he said and walked forward slowly, every movement making me feel like I was about to crumble. I slapped the marriage certificate on the desk in front of him.
The paper slid across the polished surface.
His eyes dropped to it. And for the briefest moment—barely a second—his expression froze.
I caught the tiny flicker of surprise that brushed his orbs, before it was quickly replaced by a practiced calm--the calm of a skilled liar.
It took every bit of control to keep my voice quiet. "I went to the registry office today, Adrian, upon the request of the lawyers to get an original copy of our marriage certificate for the restructuring of our assets," I said, "Then they said at the registry that this certificate doesn't exist."
Adrian didn't answer. He simply stared at the paper, his eyes jumped on and off it, restless, while his jaw twitched continuously.
I continued slowly, "Would you like to explain why the marriage I've believed in for five years… was never registered?"
Adrian finally leaned back in his chair. The sharp squeal as the chair's feet scraped the tiles echoed through the room.
He finally let go of the veneer of calm he had forced on all along, and tension graced his features.
"Lyra, listen to me—" he said, terribly unsettled now.
"No." My voice cut through the room like a blade, my veins were literally pipes hauling lava through me. "I don't want excuses." Against all odds, I forced my voice to stay steady. "I want the truth, Adrian."
He ran a hand through his hair. "It's not what you think, Lyra." He rushed from his seat to reach for me.
"Really? Adrian. Is that all you can say to me?" I jumped, moving away from his reach. I folded my quivering arms on my heaving chest. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like the man I trusted most in the world forged a marriage certificate and moved into my family's palace under false pretense."
"I--" he tried to speak, to cook up another lie, but words failed. He reached for me again, more desperate than before. Again, I jumped back, retreating from him.
"Just please listen to me, Lyra. You know I love you, Lyra. I can explain, this is all just some big misunderstanding." He rambled desperately. "I couldn't register the certificate because I hadn't finalized my divorce with my ex, and doing that could get me arrested for bigamy. I swear I am--"
"Bigamy," I repeated, interrupting him. Bigamy. The word tasted bitter in my mouth, my eyes tunnelling through him. "So you were once married, Adrian. But you told me you weren't"
I wanted to yell, wanted to scream, but I just couldn't get my voice through, especially at the flush of guilt that claimed his expression.
He stood back watching me speechlessly, though his mouth hung open for words that never came.
If admission to a crime could be written clearly on someone's face. It did on his now. Turns out the lies were deeper than I thought.
He finally found his voice after a minute, and he strolled closer to me.
I moved away from him again. "I am sorry, Lyra. But I can explain. Just let me explain..."
I refused to listen. I was tired of all the lies already. I straightened slowly, trying my best not to crumble from the immense pain contracting my chest right now, trying not to let even a drop of tear slip.
I shut my eyes tight for a few minutes, and when I opened them again, my expression became ice cold.
"You have two days."
Adrian frowned. "Lyra—"
"Two days," I repeated. "To pack your things. To gather whatever belongs to you. And to leave Valen Palace. This is my family's home, and you no longer belong here."
His eyes widened slightly. "And if I don't?" he asked quietly.
I met his gaze without flinching.
"Then on the third day, I will expose this fraud to the entire Lycan council." I nudged my chin to the crumbled piece of worthless paper on the table. My voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "And I promise you, Adrian Thorne… the disgrace will follow you for the rest of your life."
I turned towards the door as fast as I could before I became a crumbled wreck before him. I wouldn't let him see me break. Just before the door slammed home behind me, I said one last time without looking back. "Two days. Adrian. You have just two days."