Chapter 5

After Reina left, Xavier received a link from Hugo on Instagram. "I'm going live in five minutes. There's a surprise." He clicked the link. In the video, Hugo was sitting on an extravagant couch, reading a book. The diamond ring on his ring finger gleamed brightly. Comments were flooding in as the viewers went wild. "Oh my God! Hugo's wedding ring is even more dazzling than Xavier's! Who's his mysterious girlfriend? She's more extravagant than Ms. Yarrow!" "His mansion looks like one in Eagle's Crest. With such a prime location, it has to be worth at least 20 million dollars. I'm so jealous!" "Hugo may have gotten divorced before, but his charm is still undeniable. He's about to become a son-in-law of a prestigious family. I wonder which powerful family in Northreach City has that kind of wealth. I'm so envious!" "Hi, everyone. My girlfriend and I are about to register our marriage." Hugo zoomed the camera in and flashed a gentle smile. "Once our marriage is officially registered, I'll be giving a lucky draw worth 100 thousand dollars. Stay tuned and don't go anywhere!" As soon as he said that, the live chat exploded with excitement. Then a slender woman walked into the frame and took Hugo's hand. "Hugo, the staff will be here in five minutes. We need to get changed." Even though the woman's face was blurred with a cat image and her voice was altered, Xavier immediately recognized her. The woman, wearing an emerald bracelet, was none other than Reina. His mind went blank. He rushed upstairs to find his marriage certificate. Both his and Reina's signatures were on the paper, and everything seemed in order. What was going on? Bigamy was illegal in Valdoria. Why would Reina… A sudden thought flashed through Xavier's mind, but his train of thought was interrupted by the noise from his phone. He looked at the screen. Hugo was holding a marriage certificate, surrounded by a shower of rose petals. He sounded thrilled. "I did it, family! I finally got married! My dream has finally come true after six years of waiting! Let's see all the well wishes come through! We're about to start the lucky draw!" The woman walked up to him and took his hand. "100 thousand dollars is too little. Make it a million! I want to be with you for a million years!" The live chat was flooded with requests for them to kiss. Xavier couldn't bear to watch anymore. He opened the government website, entered the serial number on his marriage certificate, and hit search. The results came back blank. Reina's marriage certificate with him was fake? Their marriage was just a de facto relationship? His phone crashed to the ground. The screen shattered into a thousand pieces. It was like his heart, torn apart by a sharp blade. He was aching with unbearable pain. It turned out Reina had been planning this from the very day they got married. She had been waiting for today to give Hugo his rightful status. She had deceived Xavier and treated him like a fool. Fury and humiliation surged inside him. He tore the marriage certificate into pieces and threw it, along with every piece of clothing he had bought Reina, into the trash. It all went up in flames. Tessa Kinney, the housekeeper, heard the noise and rushed over. Seeing his suitcase, she looked at Xavier with fear in her eyes. "Mr. Caldwell, Ms. Yarrow clearly cares for you. She has such a distinguished status, yet she even cooks for you. You can't just leave like this. She won't be able to handle it!" "She'll never care about me." Xavier lowered his head. Hugo was the rightful son-in-law of the Yarrow family. As for Xavier, he was nothing more than a joke. He should have left a long time ago.