Chapter 10%
D
Right at the top is my all–too–familiar account.
Staring back at him was a red marriage certificate.
That bright crimson cover scorched his eyes like a brand, burning straight through him.”
Then, his eyes dropped to the name etched below, Natalie.
And the groom’s name wasn’t his. It wasn’t him.
His world rang with a hollow roar, like a dam bursting inside his chest. He stood frozen as though something had been ripped from him, leaving only silence in its wake.
With shaking hands, Brynn tapped on the photo.
The man standing beside me had a clean, handsome profile, tall and upright, with a soft gaze aimed at the camera.
I stood beside him, wearing a smile long lost to time.
Below the image was a simple caption. [From now on, stepping into a new life.]
His gaze froze.
The screenshot from Instagram was painfully clear.S
My marriage certificate lay open in full view, every word sharp as a blade.§
But the most jarring part? The groom wasn’t him.§
His mother, Odessa’s face flushed scarlet, and she slammed the table with a loud thud.}
“Nonsense! What marriage?! She’s clearly our family’s daughter–in–law-“}
His father, Homer’s face turned grim. He grabbed her wrist and said coldly, “She already posted the certificate herself. She’s made it clear she no longer acknowledges Brynn. Let her go. Our family doesn’t need a woman who can’t even bear a child.“}
With that, he stood and faced the guests.
“Let me make this clear: Brynn and Natalie divorced long ago. We simply kept it quiet because of the child.”
“Solomon is the blood of our family. He is our grandson!”
The words had barely landed when the hall erupted.
“Divorced?“g
“But I just saw Natalie and President Murphy at the company’s anniversary gala last month. They were holding hands! They didn’t look divorced at all.”
“When did this happen? That kid looks older already. Don’t tell me Brynn and that god–sister were cheating behind Natalie’s back and drove her out?!”
The gossip spread like wildfire, loud and fast, crashing through the room like a storm.
Homer and Odessa had always favored Sylvie, the quiet, obedient daughter–in–law, and were hoping to seize this moment to legitimize her status.
But what they hadn’t accounted for was Solomon’s age.!
Acknowledging it now was the same as announcing to the world that Brynn and Sylvie had been entangled in an affair all along. Meanwhile, Brynn clutched his phone, his temples pounding like drums.
His vision blurred, the roar of voices around him turning into static. He couldn’t even hear what his parents were saying anymore.
Only one thought thundered in his mind: Find me. He had to find me and demand an answer.
What was going on with that marriage certificate?%
Brynn turned sharply, ready to storm out, only to be yanked back by Odessa.
“Where are you going?!”
Homer’s voice dropped low and firm.
“You’re the one at the center of this. The more chaotic it gets, the calmer you must be. Think clearly. Handle it properly. Understood?“N Brynn shut his eyes, his fury clawing its way through his chest.
Then he gritted his teeth, and each word came out like a blade scraping from his throat.
“Dad Mom Natalie is the only woman I will ever acknowledge as my wife in this life.”
“Other than her, I will marry no one.“%
Odessa trembled with rage, pointing at him with shaking hands.
“What’s so good about her?! Seven years, and she couldn’t even give you a child, and you’ve gone mad over her?!”
Brynn suddenly whipped his head around, eyes bloodshot with fury.!!
“She wasn’t unable to give birth I just couldn’t bear to let her.”
The room fell into a deathly silence. You could hear a pin drop.
His voice sank lower, rough with anguish, “I didn’t want her to suffer through labor pains through the weight and sickness of pregnancy, the aftermath of childbirth, or the pain of being neglected after it was all over”
“I watched my mother go through it. I couldn’t let her live that same life.“%
10.58 AM d
That single sentence landed like a thunderclap across Odessa’s face.
She stood motionless, her complexion shifting from pale to ashen green.
Even the crowd, once certain, began to waver.&
A murmur slipped through the hush. “Then what about the marriage certificate? If they weren’t divorced, how would she get remarried legally?”
Brynn answered coldly, not a flicker of emotion on his face.
“Natalie acted out of anger. She had someone forge it.“:
“She misunderstood me. She was upset and wanted to get back at me, that’s all.“N
His mind was a storm of confusion, but one thing rang crystal clear, he could never let the truth about Sylvie surface.
If it did, then he and I would be finished for good.
“Then whose child is it? What’s Sylvie to him, really?“&
The question cut clean through the air.
But Brynn grew eerily calm.
“That child belongs to Sylvie and someone else. It’s not mine. I have nothing to do with it.“N
Compared to me, everything else, his name, his pride, even his child, meant absolutely nothing.
At this moment, Brynn was willing to deny it all.
