"I told him, 'The kid's not going to make it anyway. Just wait for it to die. The wife will blame herself for not taking better care of it, and she'll feel like she owes you. So even if she finds out about us, you've got the perfect excuse: you were so heartbroken over losing the child that you looked for comfort somewhere else. What right would she have to blame you?'"
Every muscle in my body trembled. I fought to hold still.
"Besides, with that little brat gone, my son inherits everything."
"The wife's already wrecked her body working three jobs. Ruined her womb. No looks, no figure, can't even pop out another kid. What's she got to compete with me?"
Eve swung her legs idly and took a delicate sip of champagne.
I stared at her, unblinking.
"Aren't you afraid of karma?"
"Karma?" Eve threw her head back and howled with laughter, as if she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Oh, sweetie, you don't even know. His marriage certificate with that woman? It's fake."
### Chapter 3
My head buzzed, and my entire body went numb.
"What? The marriage certificate is fake?"
"Yep! That frumpy little wife and her kid spent five whole years suffering through poverty with him, and they never even knew. Honestly, I feel sorry for them!"
Her plump cheeks twitched as she pouted in displeasure.
"But even so, he still won't leave his ugly duckling wife. I have no idea what he's thinking."
My voice came out dry and cracked. "Why? Why would he use a fake certificate to deceive her?"
"Well, right when they were about to get married, he and I happened to be, you know..." She waved her hand suggestively. "He was chasing me hard. I got angry and threw a fit, threatened to kill myself. To calm me down, he actually went out and bought a fake certificate for fifty bucks."
So the marriage I'd fought tooth and nail to hold together was nothing but a scam worth fifty dollars.
Eve tossed her dark curls over her shoulder, triumph radiating from every pore. "So he and I are the real thing. The one who isn't loved is the other woman here—"
Crack.
My palm connected with her face before either of us saw it coming.
She shrieked, clutching her cheek, her pretty eyes blown wide. "Did you just fucking hit me?!"
"You made sure my child never got to see his father one last time. Are you even human?!" I screamed, my eyes burning red.
A sharp pain tore through my thigh.