"I apologize for the inconvenience, ma'am, but this marriage certificate is fake," the registrar said, pushing the document across the desk.
Angela stared at the paper, unable to speak. Her mind refused to process the words she had just heard.
Fake?
Did the woman mean that her marriage was never real?
No. That could not be possible.
Three years ago, she had married Maurice, the Alpha of the East Pack and the man she had loved with all her heart. It had not been a forced marriage. They had chosen each other. They had exchanged vows and built a life together.
So how could their marriage certificate be fake?
"Are you sure?" Angela finally asked, her voice shaking. "Please look again. There must be a mistake."
She pushed the paper back toward the registrar.
The woman let out a tired sigh. This was already the fourth time she had checked the records for Angela.
"Please," Angela begged, folding her hands in front of her chest. "I am begging you. Check one more time."
She could not accept this. There had to be an error somewhere. Maybe someone had filed the records wrongly.
The registrar looked at her for a moment, pity flashing across her face.
"Ma'am, I don't think you understand what happened," she said gently. "The man you're talking about got legally married on the same day he claimed to marry you."
Angela frowned.
The registrar lowered her eyes before continuing.
"He married another woman. Miss Melissa."
The words struck Angela like a hard slap across the face.
She stumbled backward, almost losing her balance.
The registrar turned the record book around and showed her the official entry. The evidence was right there in black and white.
There was no mistake.
Maurice had married Melissa.
Not her.
Angela could not remember how she left the office. Her legs moved on their own as she wandered out into the busy streets of England.
Her best friend.
He had married her best friend.
The thought tore through her chest.
For three years, she had shared a home with him. She had loved him, cared for him, stood by his side, and done everything a wife was supposed to do.
Yet she had never been his wife.
Not even for a single day.
The marriage she had treasured for three years had been nothing but a cruel lie.
A painful joke played by the two people she trusted most.
Tears filled her eyes as she walked aimlessly down the street.
How had they done this to her?
How had they hidden something so huge right under her nose?
And worst of all, how had she been foolish enough to never see it?