Chapter 1

The government clerk looked up from her computer, her expression a mix of confusion and pity.

"I' m sorry, Ms. Davies, but there seems to be a problem."

I smiled, resting a hand on my barely-there baby bump. "A problem? What kind of problem?"

Liam and I were so excited. Getting the preliminary birth registration done early was my idea, a way to make it all feel more real.

"Well," the clerk said, tapping her pen on the desk, "You' re trying to register this under your husband' s name, Liam O' Connell, correct?"

"Yes, that' s right."

She took a deep breath. "According to our records, Mr. Liam O' Connell is already married. His marriage to a Ms. Sienna Reed was registered six months ago."

The words didn't make sense. They hung in the air, a jumble of sounds that my brain refused to assemble into a coherent thought.

"That' s impossible," I said, my voice a little too loud. "We' re married. We have a marriage certificate."

The clerk' s eyes softened. "Ma' am, would you like to sit down? The certificate listed in the system for his marriage to Ms. Reed is official. Perhaps there' s been a misunderstanding."

A loud ringing started in my ears, drowning out the office noise. My hand, which had been resting on my stomach, now clutched it tightly. The world tilted slightly, the fluorescent lights overhead blurring into a painful glare. Misunderstanding? Liam, my Liam, married to someone else?

It couldn' t be.

The clerk' s voice seemed to come from far away. "Ma' am? Are you alright?"

I stumbled back from the counter, my mind reeling. The truth was a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. Sienna Reed. The name was unfamiliar, a sharp, ugly sound. But the fact was a sledgehammer. Liam was married. And not to me.

This meant my marriage certificate, the one I cherished, was a fake.

The entire foundation of my world crumbled in that sterile government office. I had disappeared for a year, lost in a remote mountain range after a hiking accident, suffering from amnesia. When I was finally found and returned, Liam was there, his devotion unwavering. He told me he' d spent every day searching, never giving up hope. He' d been my rock, my anchor as I pieced my life back together.

He told me he waited for me. He swore he was only mine.

During that year I was gone, he had apparently found a replacement. Sienna Reed. He had married her while I was fighting for my life, lost and alone. Then, when I came back, he hid her. He pretended our life was exactly as we' d left it. He looked me in the eye and lied.

I managed to get outside, the cold winter air a shock against my skin. Tiny, wet snowflakes began to fall, melting on my hot cheeks. The city sounds were muffled, distant. The ringing in my ears was the only thing that felt real. My perfect life, my loving husband, my beautiful future with our child-it was all a lie. A carefully constructed cage of deceit.

I thought back to the day I returned. He held me so tight I could barely breathe, his tears soaking my hair. He showed me letters he' d written, one for every day I was gone. They were filled with anguish, with love, with promises of a future he refused to let go of. We sat on our balcony and watched the fireworks he' d set off to celebrate my return, his arm securely around me. "I'll never let you go again, Chloe," he had whispered. "Never."

I had believed him. I had clung to that belief, to him, as the only solid thing in a world that had become unfamiliar. When I was declared legally dead after months of no contact, he fought it. He told everyone I was alive, that he could feel it. He was the grieving, devoted husband, a role he played to perfection for the public, for our friends, for me.

And all the while, Sienna Reed was there. He must have married her during that time. Maybe he thought I was never coming back. Maybe he just needed someone to fill the space I left behind. When I did come back, a miracle return from the dead, he didn't choose me. He chose to lie. He chose to keep both of us.

He knelt in front of me the day I was cleared to come home from the hospital, his eyes red-rimmed and desperate. "Chloe, I was so lost without you," he'd cried, his voice thick with emotion. "I did things... I was so lonely. But it meant nothing. You're the only one. Forgive me, please." I thought he meant some meaningless fling, a moment of weakness born from grief. I forgave him instantly. My heart ached for the pain he must have gone through. I was so grateful to be back, so in love with the man who had waited for me.

So we picked up where we left off. He was more attentive than ever, showering me with gifts, taking me on lavish dates, holding me every night. Our life together felt like a dream, a second chance I never thought I' d get. I let myself sink into the comfort of his love, ignoring the tiny, nagging doubts that sometimes surfaced in the dead of night.

Now I knew. It wasn't a dream. It was a meticulously crafted illusion. I wasn't his wife. I was the other woman in my own life.