The day I came back from my business trip, I found out my husband was engagedto a woman Id never seen before.
I rushed to the wedding venue, but the security guard stopped me.
Im Liam Sterlings wife! I snapped.
He snorted. Youre the 108th woman today claiming that.
He pointed toward the stage. See her? That is Mr. Sterlings real wife, Ms. Aubrey.
I looked in the direction he pointed
And froze.
My husband, Liam, was standing on stage with his hand resting on a pregnant strangers belly.
My entire world stopped.
If she is Aubrey Sterling
then who the hell am I?
“Get Liam out here now! How dare a man who owes everything to my family commit bigamy?”
My face was thunderous. I moved to push past the guards, but my own private security team closed ranks against me.
“Get out of my way, or you’re all fired.”
They didn’t move. So I held up my executive access card. The ultimate symbol of authority in the Sterling Group.
There were only two in the world. Mine and Liams.
But if Liam and I were in conflict, his status alone wouldn’t be enough to control my security team.
The lead guard’s eyes narrowed. He was about to speak when a familiar voice from behind interrupted him.
“What’s all this commotion?”
Seeing Dylan approach, I urgently cried out, “Dylan, quickly, tell them who I am! I’m Aubrey, your sister-in-law!”
He was Liam’s youngest brother. I was the one who pulled strings to get him into Silverwood City University’s Business School.
Just as I thought he’d confirm my identity, he pulled out another executive access card from his pocket.
“You despicable woman, forging an access card?”
“How can there be two Aubrey Sterlings in this world? My real sister-in-law is inside exchanging rings with my brother. You fake, you’ve got some nerve.”
I felt like I’d been struck by lightning, staring at him in disbelief.
The woman inside was completely different from me. How could Dylan not recognize me?
“What are you two arguing about? Dylan, look closely! I’m your sister-in-law!”
Dylan impatiently waved his hand.
“Drag this troublemaker out of here. Don’t let her spoil my brother’s engagement.”
“Who dares touch me?”
I pulled out my ID, holding it up for everyone to see.
“I am Aubrey Sterling. This ID can be verified by any department in Silverwood City. If you touch me again, I’ll make sure your entire family is kicked out of city by tomorrow!”
I was laughing with rage. I never imagined I’d have to prove my identity with an ID.
I was going to find out exactly what Liam was up to today!
Just as I thought showing my ID would convince them I was Aubrey Sterling, Dylan snatched it away and shredded it into pieces.
“Do you really take us for fools? If a keycard can be forged, what’s an ID card?”
The security team burst into laughter. They stepped forward and restrained me, pinning me to the ground.
It was then I realized the entire security team was made up of unfamiliar faces.
Liam had replaced all the security personnel behind my back…
A chill spread through me. I struggled, but the physical disparity between men and women meant I couldn’t resist.
Just as I was about to be dragged out of the banquet hall, a voice rang out.
“What are you doing?!”
“Celeste, this woman’s completely insane, trying to impersonate you!”
Dylan immediately scurried over, playing the victim.
The newcomer was the very woman about to marry my husband, Liam.
My gaze was fixed on her, unable to move.
The moon-white silk gown she wore was a limited edition piece Liam had given me for my birthday last year.
The pigeon-blood ruby necklace around her neck was our wedding anniversary gift.
And on her left ring finger, she was clearly wearing my wedding ring!
A wave of icy coldness shot from my feet to the top of my head.
“Get Liam out here. He’s a man who…”
Before I could finish my sentence, Dylan slapped me across the face.
“What nonsense are you spouting? My brother is legitimately marrying Ms. Sterling! There’s no ‘man who married into her family’!”
I distinctly saw a flicker of panic on the face of the woman impersonating me.
But she quickly regained her composure and spoke, “Yes, Liam and I truly love each other. Even if he were poor and destitute, I would still marry him!”
“After this, I’ll also represent The Sterling Group and hand over fifteen percent of the company’s shares to him. As for me, I’ll happily stay home and start a family.”
I looked at her in disbelief.
Liam and I had clearly agreed not to have children for five years.
We even signed an agreement stating that all profits from my company after marriage would be exclusively mine, not part of our marital assets.
His only role was to manage our household and be there for me.
How could everything have changed?
“Get Liam out here.”
My voice grew colder.
How could Liam betray me, even find someone to impersonate me? Was he tired of living?
Even Dylan had been fooled. Why was this happening?
The woman impersonating me curled her lips into a mocking smile: “Liam is inside entertaining important guests. He doesn’t have time to bother with a lunatic like you.”
“Dylan, get rid of her. Don’t let her ruin this special day.”
A sinister glint flashed in Dylan’s eyes. He crouched down, reaching out to touch my face.
“Oh, Celeste, you really said it? I’ve been wanting to get my hands on her for ages…”
Before he could finish, I snatched his outstretched wrist, using all my strength to slam him onto the ground.
Then I quickly pulled out my small self-defense knife and pressed it against the impostor’s throat.
“Tell me, who are you? Get Liam out here!”
My shouts drew the attention of the wedding guests.
Spotting a few familiar faces, I immediately called out, “Mr. Davis, Ms. Miller! We just signed a partnership last month! You tell them, am I Aubrey Sterling or not?”
I desperately wanted to prove myself, even freeing one hand to pull up the contract on my phone.
But they looked at me, then at the printed words and contract photos, with blank expressions.
I froze.
Why didn’t they recognize me?
I struggled, trying to pull up a video of my company’s press conference, but a sudden sharp pain shot through my lower back.
It was a taser.
I was zapped unconscious.
Before my awareness completely faded, I saw the man resembling Liam pull the impostor into his arms.
He called her his wife affectionately, asking if she was hurt.
Why was this happening?
Despair surged through my heart. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital.
No one was around, and the door to my room wasn’t locked.
I struggled to my feet and ran out.
I had to find out the truth!
Just outside the room, I saw Liam’s parents.
I rushed forward excitedly. If others wouldn’t recognize me, my mother and father-in-law certainly would.
When we got married, they adored me, treating me like their own daughter.
I was afraid of the dark, and Eleanor would leave a light on and stay with me until I fell asleep. I loved sweets, and Richard would immediately make me sugary cakes.
They would definitely be able to confirm my identity.
But just as I was about to approach, the impostor walked towards them, holding a pregnancy test report.
I rushed forward, my voice filled with urgency.
“Dad! Mom! Look at me! It’s Aubrey! How can you not recognize me?”
Eleanor and Richard’s faces initially showed a flicker of undeniable shock.
But that expression vanished in an instant, replaced by intense disgust.
“Lunatic! You crazy woman!”
Eleanor slapped me across the face, snarling, “Aubrey is perfectly fine inside! You imposter, how dare you cause trouble here!”
Richard frowned, his tone icy. “We don’t know you! Get lost! Don’t come here acting crazy!”
I clutched my burning cheek, stumbling back a step, staring at them in disbelief.
Eleanor and Richard were both present when Liam and I signed our prenuptial agreement.
How could they not remember me? Were they trying to break the agreement?
“Mom and Dad, Liam married into our family, giving up all inheritance rights. You both witnessed him sign those papers. Are you trying to break the agreement now?”
“Why won’t you recognize me? Can you afford the massive penalty for breach of contract?”
Eleanor’s face flushed with anger. She stepped forward, grabbing my hair, hitting and cursing at me.
“What ‘married into the family’? What nonsense are you talking about! What man would ‘marry into’ another family like that? You’re disgracing our family name!”
Richard also kicked me to the ground.
“I think you’re just a lunatic, trying to push your feminist agenda everywhere! What agreement? You just don’t respect men! Get out! Get far away from here!”
I lay on the cold floor, my heart filled with resentment.
Just as I was about to pull out the agreement Liam and I had signed, a foot stomped on my hand.
The impostor held up the prenatal report, looking at me triumphantly.
“I kindly brought you to the hospital, and you’re still so ungrateful. To try and seduce my husband, impersonate me, and now harass my in-laws? How shameless can you be?”
“I know you might be desperate to marry Liam, that’s why you’d do something like this, but you can’t just keep chasing us!”
Her words immediately drew whispers and comments from the surrounding people.
“Turns out she’s a mistress trying to climb the social ladder, pretending to be crazy.”
“How pathetic, she’s obsessed with a man.”
“Seriously, the real wife is pregnant, and she’s still causing trouble. So malicious.”
I looked around. Everyone was staring at me as if I were insane.
A wave of immense grievance and fury washed over me, almost suffocating me.
Why wouldn’t anyone acknowledge that I was Aubrey Sterling?
“What’s all this commotion?”
A familiar voice. Liam had arrived.
I looked at the face I had lived with for three years, then fiercely slapped him across the face.
“Liam, have you forgotten? When you came to propose, you said you were willing to move into the Sterling family and obey me your entire life?”
“What exactly are you doing now?”
As I cursed, I started to cry.
We had been together for ten years, and married for three.
His agreement to move in and depend on my family’s wealth was his own free will.
But back then, for his dignity, I hadn’t made his status public.
I never imagined it would turn out like this.
“Liam, look closely. I’m Aubrey Sterling.”
“I’m the one who got our marriage certificate with you three years ago. I’m the one who helped you through your company’s crisis last year. And I’m the one who stayed by your mother’s hospital bed all night when she was ill!”
“Now tell me, who is she?”
Liam didn’t look at me. He just lowered his head, gently stroking the woman in his arms’ hair, his voice so tender it could melt.
“Aubrey, don’t be scared. I’m here. No one will hurt you.”
After settling the impostor, he finally looked me in the eye.
“Ms. Sterling, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
“My wife, Aubrey Sterling, has always been and only ever will be the woman standing before you. As for your talk of ‘moving in’ or ‘agreements,’ those are just the ramblings of a madwoman.”
I stood frozen, tears finally streaming down my face.
“I have a birthmark on my left chest. You found it when you were helping me apply ointment.”
“I’m afraid of thunderstorms. Every time it rains, you’d hold me and tell jokes. And that osmanthus tree we planted at the old estate-when it bloomed for the first time last year, you said you’d save its flowers to make osmanthus wine for me. Are these also ‘ramblings’?”
These details, only he and I knew.
I thought that by revealing these, he would at least show a flicker of doubt.
But the coldness on his face didn’t soften in the slightest. Instead, he raised a hand, summoning security.
“Please escort this troublesome lady out. Don’t let her disturb my wife’s rest again.”
“Liam!”
I rushed forward, trying to grab his arm, but the security guards held me back firmly.
In that moment, I finally understood.
He hadn’t forgotten; he had been deceiving me all along.
From pretending to be compliant and moving in, to using the resources I provided to establish himself step by step.
Behind my back, he’d done it all. Replaced my security. Planted an imposter. Even turned my own in-laws and Dylan against me.
Three years of love. Three years of a meticulously planned scam.
Despair closed my throat. I shut my eyes as the guards moved to drag me away.
“I’d like to see who dares touch her!”
A voice, sharp with command, cut through the chaos.
And then I saw him: a man with Liam’s face.
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