Chapter 1 A Fake Marriage Certificate
Lizzie Trevino stared at the two marriage certificates on the table intently till tears welled up in her sore eyes.
The yellowed and tattered one was her supposed marriage certificate with her husband, Theron Howland.
The other, wrapped by a transparent plastic cover, was pristine and smooth.
It was the marriage certificate of Theron and Johanna Munoz, the fiancée of his late brother, Efren Howland.
When Lizzie came to the city hall earlier today to check her marriage registration with Theron, the clerk told her he couldn’t find any relevant record.
Even now, the sympathetic look in the clerk’s eyes still haunted her.
She had been with Theron her whole life, taking care of his parents and siblings.
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He told her he was infertile, and to protect his male ego, she told others she was why they never had a baby.
Because of that, his mother had never stopped guilt–tripping her.
She didn’t realize until today that she had been living in a lie.
The marriage certificate was fake, and so was his infertility.
In the study, next to the fake marriage certificate was the birth certificate of their adopted son, Darrell Howland. The parents‘ names read: Theron Howland and Johanna Munoz.
So he wasn’t infertile. He just didn’t want to have kids with her.
Stiffly, Lizzie stood up, picked up the phone, and dialed Johanna’s home number.
After several beeps, a serious, deep male voice rang out. “Hello.”
Lizzie gave a bitter smile.
“When are you coming back, Theron? We need to talk.”
He said after a moment of silence, “Lizzie, don’t overthink it. Darrell’s been working here lately, and I just came to check on him. I only stopped by Johanna’s place briefly.”
He gave her the exact explanation he had been feeding her for the past thirty years.
A fit of dizziness came over Lizzie.
Before she could say anything, Darrell had already snatched the phone away.
“Mom, could you please stop being paranoid for just one second? Today is Johanna’s birthday. Do you really think it’s
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Chapter 1 A Fake Marriage Certificate
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appropriate for you to call and check up on Dad? If there was really something going on between them, he would have dumped you already. He’s spoiled you too much.”
Darrell’s harsh words felt like a slap, making Lizzie hard to breathe.
Having been living such a life for thirty years, she had had enough.
She had been clinging on for so long that she forgot why she was doing all this.
“Darrell, from today on, I’m no longer your mom. Tell your dad he’s free.”
Those words drained the last of her strength.
She collapsed to the floor, exhausted.
“Hello? Mom? What happened? Are you OK?”
“Lizzie? Lizzie…”
She slipped into darkness.
“Ms. Trevino, we’ve gotten to the bottom of it and found out that you’re the plagiarizer. Your fiancé, Mr. Howland, testified that you had snooped Ms. Munoz’s notebook. What do you have to say for yourself now?”
Lizzie’s ears rang, and her vision blurred.
She thought, “Where am I?
“Didn’t I die already?
“I remember I fell backward after using my last bit of strength to cut ties with Darrell, and then my head slammed into a stool…”
Lizzie straightened her upper body up, looking around.
It was a simple office with nothing but a dusty table and a bookcase.
Anton Hatfield, the director of Equinox Research Laboratory, who was now thirty years younger, was frowning at her.
Lizzie thought, “Have I just been reborn?”
Tears immediately streamed down her cheeks.
“Now you’re scared? You should’ve seen this coming when you plagiarized Ms. Munoz.” Seeing the tears on Lizzie’s face, Anton waved his hand impatiently.
“Well, since you’re getting married to Mr. Howland, maybe it’s a good thing that you focus on being a good wife and let someone else take the job.”
Both the scene and his words were utterly familiar.
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Chapter 1 A Fake Marriage Certificate
In her past life, this was where she had started to compromise until Johanna had finally stolen her everything.
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She suddenly looked up and stared at Anton intently. “I didn’t plagiarize. I filed this project with the lab half a year ago.”
Johanna had only transferred to Equinox Research Laboratory half a month ago. So apparently, she was the plagiarist instead of Lizzie.
Anton had wanted his name to be on Lizzie’s project, and she turned him down. But Johanna didn’t.
Lizzie stared at Anton, knowing exactly why he was acting like this.
Under her gaze, he looked away with guilt.
Then he snapped, “So what if you can find proof? Mr. Howland testified for Ms. Munoz. It won’t do you any good if he gets punished for perjury. A word of advice? Drop this. Even if you keep this up, Mr. Howland won’t take your side.”
Of course, he wouldn’t.
He had always sided with Johanna, not her.
Efren died protecting him.
To repay Efren, he had been taking care of Johanna all these years. He took her to Equinox Research Institute and even secured a job for her at Equinox Research Laboratory.
He even gave her most of his salary each month to ensure she could have anything she wanted.
Throughout his whole life, he had always been at her beck and call and had never said no to her.
In Lizzie’s past life, Theron’s testimony got her branded as a plagiarist.
She was expelled from the lab and despised by everyone. She couldn’t even get another job.
But she loved Theron so much that when he said Johanna needed the job more than she did, she agreed and gave it up right away.
She became a housewife, taking care of everything at home and supporting his work just to keep their marriage going.
Then, it turned out the marriage certificate was fake, and all her efforts had been a joke.
“It doesn’t matter who he sides with. The truth won’t change!”
With that, she turned around resolutely.
In her past life, after losing her job, she had spent her whole life relying on Theron, scorned by all. She’d never live that life again.
This time, she’d take control of her own destiny and never compromise!
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