Ethan stared at me for several seconds.

Then he laughed.

Not because he found it funny.

Because he didn’t believe me.

—Clara, enough.

He placed the jade ring in his pocket.

—You’ve made your point.

—What point?

—You’re angry because I changed the report.

His confidence almost impressed me.

—When you’ve calmed down, I’ll correct it.

I looked at him.

—Don’t.

His smile disappeared.

—What?

—The report is correct now.

I extended my hand.

—My family’s pendant.

Ethan’s expression finally changed.

The twin-fish jade pendant had been divided in two generations ago. One half belonged to me. The other had been given to Ethan when our families arranged our engagement.

He had worn it for ten years.

His fingers instinctively touched his chest.

—You’re serious.

—Very.

Ivy stepped closer.

—Miss Hayes, surely you don’t need to go this far over a joke.

I looked at her.

—You’re right.

Her face relaxed.

Then I added:

—A joke isn’t worth ruining ten years over.

I turned back to Ethan.

—But someone who thinks my marriage is something he can alter because he lost a bet is.

His face darkened.

—You know nothing about Marcus.

—I know his name is on my marriage report.

—He’s thirteen years older than you.

—That isn’t your concern.

—He barely attends family gatherings.

—Good. I enjoy peace.

Ethan clenched his jaw.

—He has old injuries.

I understood exactly what he was implying.

For years, rumors had followed Marcus Shen.

A mission overseas.

A serious injury.

Months of rehabilitation.

People whispered that he would never marry because he couldn’t live a normal married life.

Yesterday, those rumors might have frightened me.

Today, they seemed less frightening than another decade beside Ethan.

I held out my hand again.

—Pendant.

He didn’t move.

So I said:

—Keep it if you want. I’ll have our family issue a formal notice terminating the engagement.

That frightened him more than anything else.

—Clara!

A deep male voice came from the doorway.

—Why is everyone shouting?

The entire room became silent.

I turned.

Marcus Shen stood there.

I had met him only a few times.

He wore a dark military uniform without unnecessary decoration. A thin scar disappeared beneath his collar.

He didn’t resemble Ethan much.

Ethan was fire.

Marcus was winter.

Even Ivy immediately straightened.

—General Shen.

Marcus’s eyes passed over everyone before stopping on me.

Then he looked at the wedding decorations.

—It seems I’ve arrived at an inconvenient time.

Ethan walked toward him.

—Uncle, there’s been a mistake.

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

—What mistake?

—The marriage report.

Ethan forced a laugh.

—I accidentally changed Clara’s groom information to yours. I’ll have it corrected today.

Marcus looked at me.

—Accidentally?

I answered before Ethan could.

—It wasn’t an accident.

Ethan’s face hardened.

—Clara.

I ignored him.

—He lost a bet with Secretary Lin and changed it deliberately.

Marcus’s gaze shifted toward Ivy.

She immediately became pale.

Then he looked at Ethan.

—You altered an official marriage document for a bet?

—It’s between Clara and me.

Marcus’s voice remained calm.

—Then why is my name on it?

Ethan couldn’t answer.

I almost smiled.

For the first time, his little game had reached someone he couldn’t dismiss.

Marcus turned toward me.

—Miss Hayes, do you want it corrected?

Everyone waited.

Ethan looked almost relieved.

He was certain I would finally stop pretending.

I shook my head.

—No.

Marcus studied me.

—Do you understand what that means?

—Yes.

—You would be marrying me.

—Yes.

Ethan grabbed my arm.

—Have you lost your mind?

Before I could react, Marcus’s gaze dropped to Ethan’s hand.

—Let go.

Only two words.

Ethan released me.

His face was terrible.

—Uncle, she doesn’t love you.

Marcus nodded.

—I assumed as much.

That answer stunned everyone.

He looked at me again.

—And I don’t expect affection from a woman who learned yesterday that she might marry me.

For some reason, that simple respect made my throat tighten.

Then Marcus said:

—But marriage cannot be treated as punishment either. Take three days. If you still choose this after thinking clearly, I’ll accept the report.

Ethan immediately said:

—You can’t be serious.

Marcus looked at him.

—You put my name there.

—It was a joke!

—Then perhaps you should learn that some signatures have consequences.

He left.

Three days later, I went to the civil affairs office.

Marcus was already waiting.

No flowers.

No grand procession.

No promises.

He simply asked:

—Last chance. Are you certain?

I thought of ninety-nine postponed wedding plans.

Seven rejected marriage reports.

Ten years of whispers.

Ethan taking back his mother’s ring because Ivy wanted it.

I nodded.

—I’m certain.

Marcus signed.

So did I.

When the red marriage certificates were placed before us, I expected regret.

Instead, I felt relief.

Marcus looked at the photograph.

—Mrs. Shen.

I almost laughed.

After ten years, someone had finally called me that.

Only the wrong Shen.

Or perhaps, for the first time, the right one.

The news exploded through the military district before evening.

Ethan arrived at the Shen family residence that night.

I heard his voice before seeing him.

—Where is Clara?

Marcus’s mother answered:

—Show some respect. She’s your aunt now.

The silence that followed was almost beautiful.

Then Ethan appeared in the doorway.

His eyes immediately found the marriage certificate in my hand.

He went completely still.

—You actually did it.

—Yes.

—Divorce him.

Marcus, sitting beside me, slowly put down his teacup.

Ethan ignored him.

—Clara, stop this. You’ve punished me enough.

I stared at him.

—You still think everything I do is about you.

His face changed.

He pulled something from his pocket.

My twin-fish pendant.

—You wanted this back?

He placed it on the table.

—Take it. I’ll take the ring back from Ivy too. I’ll correct everything.

I looked at the jade.

Then at him.

—I don’t need it anymore.

—Why?

Marcus answered before I could.

—Because the Hayes family already sent me the matching half this morning.

Ethan froze.

Marcus reached beneath his collar.

There it was.

A new twin-fish pendant.

My family’s official acknowledgment of the marriage.

Ethan’s face turned white.

For the first time, he understood.

This wasn’t another postponed wedding.

There would be no hundredth proposal.

No crying.

No begging.

No Clara waiting outside his office.

He had truly handed me to another man.

The following month, I moved into Marcus’s residence.

We slept in separate rooms.

He never crossed a boundary.

On my first morning there, I found breakfast waiting.

—You made this?

—The cook did.

I smiled.

At least he didn’t expect me to serve him.

Marcus glanced at me.

—Your study is upstairs.

—My study?

—Your mother said you stopped painting after becoming engaged to Ethan.

I stared at him.

He continued casually:

—I had the room converted. If you don’t like it, change anything you want.

Nobody had asked what I wanted in years.

That evening, Ethan called seventeen times.

I blocked him.

Weeks passed.

My marriage to Marcus remained strange but peaceful.

Then something changed.

Marcus received orders for a three-month assignment.

Before leaving, he placed a folder on my desk.

—What’s this?

—Property arrangements.

I frowned.

—Why would I need them?

—Because you’re my wife.

Inside were deeds, investment accounts, insurance policies and authorization documents.

My name appeared everywhere.

—Marcus, we’ve been married for six weeks.

—Correct.

—You barely know me.

He looked at me.

—Trust doesn’t become more meaningful simply because someone makes you wait ten years for it.

I couldn’t answer.

Three months later, Marcus returned unexpectedly.

I was at a military charity reception.

Ethan was there too.

Ivy stood beside him wearing the Shen family jade ring.

The ring he had promised to return to me.

When Ethan noticed me looking, embarrassment flashed across his face.

Ivy smiled deliberately.

—Aunt Clara, do you recognize it?

I did.

But strangely, it no longer hurt.

—It suits you.

Her smile faltered.

Then the hall suddenly became quiet.

Marcus had entered.

Senior officers greeted him one after another.

Only then did I begin to understand something Ethan had never mentioned.

Marcus wasn’t simply assigned to the General Staff.

He was being considered for one of the highest command appointments in the region.

Even Ethan straightened when Marcus approached.

Marcus stopped beside me.

—Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?

I asked.

—I wanted to surprise my wife.

His tone was still calm.

But his hand gently offered me his arm.

I took it.

Across from us, Ethan’s face tightened.

Later that night, he cornered me near the terrace.

—Are you happy now?

—Yes.

His eyes reddened.

—You never looked at me like that.

—Like what?

—Like you don’t need anything from me.

I smiled.

—That’s because I don’t.

He stepped closer.

—Clara, I made a mistake.

—Many.

—Ivy and I aren’t—

—You don’t need to explain.

That sentence hurt him more than anger could have.

Then he whispered:

—Uncle Marcus can’t give you the life you want.

I looked at him.

—And what life is that?

His eyes shifted away.

I understood.

The rumors.

Again.

Before I could respond, Marcus’s voice came from behind us.

—Ethan.

Ethan stiffened.

Marcus approached.

—If you have questions about my health, ask me directly.

—Uncle, I didn’t mean—

—I know exactly what you meant.

Marcus’s face remained expressionless.

—The rumors about my injuries were deliberately left uncorrected.

I turned toward him.

—Why?

He looked at Ethan.

—Because certain people behaved differently when they believed I would never have heirs.

The air changed.

Ethan went pale.

I suddenly remembered the enormous dowry.

The properties.

The shares.

Mrs. Shen’s immediate acceptance of our marriage.

Marcus continued:

—My injury healed years ago.

My heartbeat stumbled.

Ethan stared at him.

—Then why did Grandmother say—

—Because I asked her to.

Marcus’s gaze sharpened.

—Someone inside the Shen family has been moving assets for years, expecting my branch of the family line to end with me.

Ethan stopped breathing.

Marcus took an envelope from inside his uniform.

—And today the investigation concluded.

He handed it to me.

I opened it.

There were financial records.

Transfers.

Shell accounts.

Signatures.

Then I reached the final page.

My fingers froze.

—Marcus…

One name appeared repeatedly.

Not Ethan’s.

Not Ivy’s.

Mrs. Shen’s.

Ethan’s mother.

But underneath was something even more shocking.

A record dated ten years earlier.

The year Ethan first promised to marry me.

Payment recipient: Ivy Lin’s guardian.

Purpose: confidential settlement.

I looked at Marcus.

—What does Ivy have to do with something from ten years ago?

Marcus didn’t answer immediately.

Ethan suddenly grabbed the paper.

His face drained of color.

—That’s impossible.

Marcus looked at him.

—You brought Ivy back from a war zone eight years ago because you believed you had rescued an orphan.

—She was an orphan.

—No.

Ethan stared at him.

Marcus’s next words silenced the terrace.

—Ivy Lin entered your life under a false identity.

My skin went cold.

—Who is she?

Marcus looked toward the ballroom.

Through the glass doors, Ivy stood beside Mrs. Shen.

They weren’t looking at us.

They were whispering.

Marcus lowered his voice.

—That’s what I’ve spent ten years trying to prove.

He handed me one final photograph.

Two women stood together outside a military hospital many years earlier.

One was Ethan’s mother.

The other had Ivy’s eyes.

On the back was a handwritten sentence:

“If Marcus ever marries, everything changes.”

I looked at my husband.

—Everything?

Marcus nodded.

Then his gaze fell to our marriage certificate inside my bag.

—Ethan thought changing one name was a joke.

His expression became grave.

—He had no idea that by making you my legal wife, he activated a succession clause the Shen family has spent thirty years trying to keep dormant.