Our Marriage License Was A Lie Chapter 03

Our Marriage License Was A Lie Chapter 03

I lost track of time in that storage room. Minutes, hours — I couldn’t tell.

Then the door opened.

Chloe filled the doorway, still flushed, looking down at me like I was something stuck to the floor.

“Could you cough any louder? You completely ruined it for Julian. Happy now?”

“If you’re really sick, go see a doctor. Don’t sit in there wheezing for attention.”

I wiped my face and looked up at her. Smiled.

Of course I knew how to take care of myself. But selling plasma and maxing out every credit card I had to pay for search trips hadn’t left much room for self-care.

Every dollar went toward finding her. I couldn’t justify spending a cent on myself. And standing here now, I saw exactly how pathetic that made me.

I’d destroyed my own body for people who called themselves family. From healthy to hollowed-out, and for what?

Chloe tossed a dress at me, her lip curling.

“That dress is worth more than you’ll make in ten lifetimes. Don’t get it dirty — I want it back afterward.”

“Mom and Dad are almost here, so pull yourself together. You look like a corpse.”

The doorbell rang. Part of me was still frozen five years in the past.

And then there they were — the parents I’d cried over at a funeral, the parents I’d mourned until my eyes swelled shut. Alive. Whole. Standing in the doorway like nothing had happened.

My father walked right past me without a glance.

He scooped up Chloe’s twins like he’d done it a thousand times.

His whole face softened — a warmth I had never once seen him wear for me.

“There’s my boys. Grandpa missed you so much.”

“That’s Chloe’s flesh and blood right there. So much better than a barren woman who can’t even do the one thing she’s supposed to.”

He glanced at me when he said it. Not a trace of warmth. Not even recognition.

The reunion I’d imagined had never existed outside my own head.

My mother came over and rested a hand on my shoulder. Her voice was perfectly even.

“Elena, we know how hard you worked to find Chloe. We saw all of it.”

“But you can’t give Julian children. You’ve had him to yourself for five years — that should be enough.”

“Besides, it all stays in the family. No one’s losing anything here.”

The room tilted.

She’d known all along that Chloe had never gone missing. And she’d still forced me onto that hospital table — twice — until there was nothing left.

A sharp cramp tore through my lower belly, and every memory I’d buried came flooding back at once.

Something inside me snapped. I screamed.

“You did this to me. You killed both of my babies. You made sure I’d never be a mother.”

Both twins burst into wails.

My father’s expression turned to stone. He jabbed a finger in my face.

“Look at yourself. You’re acting like a lunatic.”

“You’re an embarrassment to this family. Maybe take a page from Chloe’s book and learn how to act like a decent person.”

Chloe swooped in, looping her arms through our parents’ with practiced sweetness.

“Don’t be upset. Elena’s just overwhelmed — she got a little emotional seeing the kids.”

“She can’t have any of her own, so… you can understand why she’d be a little jealous, right?”

I opened my mouth to say more, but Julian was already on me, his hands locked around my wrists.

He turned to my parents, looking deeply remorseful.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve kept her under control.”

He hauled me into the bedroom and shut the door. The mask dropped the second we were alone.

“Are you done? Those are your parents, Elena.”

“You used to be so reasonable. What the hell happened to you?”

He was right about one thing. I didn’t recognize myself either.

I looked at the man I’d built my whole life around, thought about the family I’d torn myself apart to find, and felt the last thread of hope snap clean.

My silence only made him bolder.

“Chloe only has one sister. If you make a scene like this at the wedding tomorrow, I’ll have you committed. Don’t test me.”

He left without waiting for an answer.

Through the open door, I could see them — all four of them circled around the twins, laughing, cooing, a perfect family portrait.

They looked so happy they could’ve been on a greeting card.

And I had never been part of it. Not once. Not from the very beginning.