Chapter 5 - Why Adrian Really Chose MeI discovered Adrian had lied about one thing.
Not his identity.
Not his father.
Me.
He had not chosen me randomly.
He knew exactly who I was before approaching my family.
I found the investigation file accidentally.
Photographs.
My work history.
University transcripts.
Travel records.
Even the apartment I rented briefly at twenty-two.
I confronted him.
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
Rage rose instantly.
“You said my family was the target.”
“They were.”
“Then why is there a seventy-page file about me?”
Adrian looked ashamed.
“Because I needed to know whether you were part of it.”
“And?”
“I concluded you probably weren’t.”
“Probably?”
“I couldn’t prove it.”
“So you married me anyway.”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
He accepted it.
“Did you think I might go to prison?”
“If the evidence showed you were involved, yes.”
That hurt.
Because it meant the man I was beginning to trust had once viewed me as another possible defendant.
I moved into a hotel.
Adrian did not stop me.
That mattered.
Three days later he sent only one message:
You were right to leave.
No excuses.
A week later:
I’m sorry I turned you into evidence before I knew you as a person.
Better.
I answered:
Being honest now doesn’t erase the deception.
He replied:
I know.
No request.
No romantic pressure.
No manipulation.
For the first time, Adrian began becoming someone different from the revenge plan he had built.
And for the first time—
I started wondering whether our fake marriage might someday survive the truth.
May you like
Not yet.
But someday.
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