Chapter 2
I froze for a moment, then instinctively shook my head. "Why would you ask that?"
Leo blinked.
Then, with a soft plop, a tear slid down his cheek.
"Because Dad and I lied to you," Leo said. "But I really, really like you, Sophie. I want you to be my mom so much, so I kept it a secret that Dad was pretending.
"I was scared that if I told you, you wouldn't want Dad or me anymore."
I gently wiped away Leo's tears.
I didn't say anything.
Honestly, I couldn't say I wasn't a little upset with him.
But I wasn't going to blame a kid too much.
After all, it was Richard who claimed he was just Leo's uncle and hid his real identity from me.
From the very first day we met, he'd been keeping things from me.
He'd been deceiving me all along.
And just when I was at my happiest, he dropped the truth on me and forced me to make a choice.
Richard didn't come home until after Leo had fallen asleep.
I got his bath ready for him, being as thoughtful as always.
When he came out of the bathroom, he was wrapped in nothing but a towel.
Like always, he pulled me into his arms.
He held me close, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
My body stiffened for a moment, and I instinctively shifted, wanting to break free from his embrace.
But Richard pulled me closer, refusing to let go.
Richard said softly, "Don't move."
"I'm really tired today. Just let me stay like this for a bit," he murmured.
I stopped struggling and asked calmly, "Richard, when are you going to let everyone know we're married?"
He rested his chin on top of my head, staying silent for a long moment.
After a long silence, Richard suddenly let out a cryptic laugh, his tone was chilly.
"Sophia, is being Mrs. Lane really that important to you?" he asked.
I turned around and shoved him away, reminding him coldly, "Making it official to everyone that I'm Mrs. Lane; that's in our prenup."
Richard didn't say anything more.
He just nodded calmly.
"Tomorrow, I'll have my assistant take care of it," he said. "Don't regret it."
With that, he walked straight to the guest room.
It didn't take long for me to realize what Richard meant by that.
Because our marriage was made public, I didn't get any congratulations, just endless mockery and hate online.
People trashed me nonstop, calling me a gold digger and saying I wasn't good enough for him.
[Who is this chick anyway? How did she end up marrying Mr. Lane? She's way out of her league.]
[Even the ugly duckling managed to snag herself a rich husband.]
[It's just a novelty. Wait till Richard gets tired of her, then the real suffering begins.]
[Mr. Lane doesn't love her at all. He didn't even bother with a wedding. Rumor has it she forced him into it.]
The gossip online was getting crazier by the day.
I knew it wasn't just the buzz from the scandal itself; Richard was definitely stirring the pot behind the scenes.
He was warning me.
Don't push your luck.
I acted like I didn't know a thing.
Every day, I just went about my routine, taking care of Leo like nothing had changed.
As the buzz around the whole thing kept growing, I was thrown right into the spotlight.
But during all this, I didn't bother to explain myself or try to clean up my image online.
My friend was so anxious she kept blowing up my phone.
"Sophie, have you seen what people are saying about you online? They're ripping you to shreds! And Richard; what kind of husband is he, just letting this happen? I'm so mad I could scream!" she ranted.
I just laughed and tried to calm her down. "Relax, I know what I'm doing."
She hung up, still sounding totally lost.
That afternoon, as the buzz around the whole thing hit its peak, I finally made a social media account and posted my very first update. [Mr. Lane, congrats on our wedding.]
The post was paired with a photo of our marriage certificate.