Chapter 3

Vanessa lifted her chin. "Gladly."

She pulled out her phone, dialed, and held it up for the whole lobby to hear.

It rang twice.

"Hey, Ness. What's wrong?"

My chest tightened. It was the man I’d been married to for five years. But the way he said her name—it was softer and more tender than anything I’d heard from him in years.

Vanessa instantly slipped into her damsel-in-distress voice.

"Dan, you need to come down here. There's a woman in the lobby screaming that our condo belongs to her husband. She's telling everyone you're married to her. I tried to explain, but she won't listen!"

Dan's voice turned instantly hostile. "What woman? Ignore her. I'm coming down right now."

The call ended. Vanessa shot me a triumphant smirk.

A bystander gently touched my arm. "You should probably leave, honey. When her husband gets here, it's only going to get uglier for you."

I didn't move an inch.

I wanted to see exactly who was going to look ugly today.

Half an hour later, Dan burst through the revolving doors. His eyes scanned the crowd and locked onto me. For a split second, sheer panic flashed across his face.

But only for a second.

His expression hardened into ice. He walked straight past me, went to Vanessa, and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.

She melted into his chest and pointed at me. "Dan, it's her. She's telling everyone you're her husband."

Dan finally looked at me. His eyes were dead.

"I bought this condo for Vanessa. When did it ever belong to you? Are you out of your mind?"

"Out of my mind?" My vision blurred with hot tears.

Vanessa leaned into him, a tiny, satisfied smile playing on her lips. "She's just jealous, Dan. Jealous that you treat me well."

She glanced pointedly at my stomach. "And who knows if she's even really pregnant? She showed up out of nowhere. She's obviously just trying to extort you."

I looked at Dan, waiting for him to shut it down. Waiting for him to defend his unborn child.

Instead, his brow furrowed in disgust.

"You're not getting a dime. Leave. That pregnancy has nothing to do with me."

I stared at him, my whole body shaking. "Dan. You're just going to stand there and let her slander me?"

"We've been married for five years, and you're telling these people my pregnancy has nothing to do with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, avoiding my eyes, his voice rigid. "I have nothing to do with you. Vanessa is my wife, and she is carrying my child. Leave the premises."

That was when I looked closer. Beneath Vanessa's designer dress, there was a slight baby bump.

They weren't just sleeping together.

She was pregnant.

I straightened my spine.

"She's your wife? Then what am I?"

I reached into my bag, pulled out the certified copy of our marriage record, and slammed it onto the concierge desk.

"Daniel, we have a legal marriage on file with the city. Did you forget?"

He glanced at it and let out a harsh scoff. "Erin, you'd forge documents just to scam me?"

Vanessa stepped forward, snatched the heavy paper off the desk, and ripped it in half right in front of my face.

"I can't believe you'd forge government documents to frame us."

She reached into her Chanel bag, pulled out a piece of paper, and held it up for the crowd.

"Look! This is the certified copy of our marriage record. Dan and I are legally married."

She glared at me, her voice shrill. "Erin is a con artist! She's here to blackmail us!"