On the day I was supposed to register the marriage with my girlfriend, the CEO of Whitmore Group, her scheming male assistant stepped in first and handed over his ID.

Just like that, the marriage certificate that should have belonged to me and my girlfriend became his and hers instead.

All I did was ask a couple of questions.

The assistant dropped to his knees in front of me, looking as if his world had ended.

“Nathan, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t needed to get my child registered for school, I never would have resorted to something like this and entered a fake marriage with Claire.”

Then he started sobbing and tried to slam his head into the wall as if he had to die to make up for it.

Claire Whitmore had always been sharp and levelheaded, but this time, instead of saying a word for me, she slapped me across the face in front of everyone.

“Ryan is a single father. Everything he did was for his child. Do you really have to be this petty?

“It’s just a certificate. Once Ryan’s child is enrolled, I’ll divorce him. What difference does it make if you get yours a little later? Did you really have to push him to the edge?

“Get on your knees and apologize to Ryan. Then give him half your salary as compensation. If you behave, I might let you borrow our certificate, take a picture of it, and show it off in your family group chat. Otherwise, don’t even think about getting one with me.”

I gave a cold laugh.

“Then forget it.”

And I did not mean only the certificate.

I was done with her, too.

At that, my girlfriend, Claire Whitmore, froze for a moment, as if she had not expected her threat to fail this time.

After a long pause, she seemed to think of something and let out a cold laugh.

“Nathan Reed, this is one of your little games, isn’t it? Why are you so petty?

“Ryan is raising a child on his own and trying to make it in New York City. That’s hard enough already. What’s wrong with me helping him out as his boss?

“You can get married anytime. If Ryan gets his marriage certificate too late, his child won’t be able to enroll in school. If that ruins the kid’s future, are you going to take responsibility?

“With you acting this cold blooded, how am I supposed to trust you enough to marry you and let you be the father of my future children?”

Listening to her righteous speech, I rubbed my cheek. The slap had left it aching and numb.

Yet inside, I felt calmer than I ever had before.

Maybe it was because things like this had happened too many times. I had gone numb a long time ago.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Ryan Chase, the male assistant who had just claimed he would smash his head into the wall to apologize to me. I almost laughed.

He moved as slowly as a snail. His forehead only tapped the wall lightly. At that force, forget killing himself. He could not have broken a piece of jelly.

The performance was laughably bad.

And yet Claire believed him.

This time, I did not swallow it like I always had. I shot back coldly, “Ryan stole my chance to get married today. Am I supposed to smile and thank him for doing such a great job?”

Ryan’s eyes reddened again. He made another move toward the wall.

“Claire, this is all my fault. I’ll pay for it with my life right now!”

Claire stopped him with a look of open distress, then turned and snapped at me.

“Nathan, are you done? Apologize to Ryan right now, then give him half your salary as compensation. You owe him that much!”

Claire had always favored Ryan.

If the smallest thing upset him, she would make me apologize and make it up to him. Once, Ryan wrote the wrong company name on a contract and cost Whitmore Group tens of millions. He was the one who caused the disaster, but she made me take the blame.

In the past, because I loved her, I compromised again and again.

Now, I did not want to give in anymore.

“I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize? If anyone should apologize, it’s Ryan.”

Claire’s face flushed with anger.

“Nathan, you...”

Before she could explode, I had already turned and left without looking back.

By the time I walked out of City Hall, the sky had gone dark. Watching couples pass by on the street, I felt a bitter ache settle in my chest.

It was almost laughable when I thought about it.

Claire and I had been together for six years, yet we had never gotten married.

At first, she said marriage would get in the way of her career and that her work had to come first.

To help her build that career, I quit my stable, high-paying job without hesitation and followed her to New York City to start a company.

I drank myself sick at business dinners and fought my way through one negotiation after another until I finally helped her take the CEO’s chair.

But once her career became stable, she wanted to “test” my sincerity. She said she would only agree to marry me after I passed the fifty-two premarital tests designed by Ryan.

So Ryan used the word “test” as an excuse to torment me.

He made me collect 9,999 handwritten blessings from strangers. He deliberately dumped ice water over my head when I walked into the office. He slipped laxatives into my water so that during a partnership meeting, I was running to the bathroom in front of everyone and humiliating myself.

That was not all.

Whenever Claire and I went on dates, he would find all kinds of excuses to pull her away. Every time, he said it was another test for me.

For Claire, I endured all of it.

Until yesterday.

I had just finished a design proposal when Ryan told me to give it to him. He said it was the final test.

That proposal had taken an entire year of my work. When he saw that I was reluctant, he started saying that my hesitation proved I did not love Claire.

So I gave in.

And Claire finally agreed to marry me.

I was so excited that I did not sleep all night. I got up early and went to City Hall.

The marriage certificate had been right there, almost in my hands.

Then Ryan jumped out and got the certificate with Claire instead.

All I did was ask a couple of questions, and Claire took his side. She called me filthy-minded and said that was why I saw everything as dirty.

But if she truly had no feelings for Ryan, why did she never help any of the other single parents at Whitmore Group?

Why was Ryan the only one she cared about so much?

Only now did I understand.

Claire’s heart had shifted a long time ago.

All those so-called tests had only been excuses because she did not want to marry me.

My stomach felt hollow, and only then did I remember I had not eaten all day.

To get the certificate early, I had skipped breakfast and came here to wait in line. In the end, I had only paved the way for someone else.

It really was not worth it.

I found a restaurant and ate. Just as I finished, I saw Claire had posted a photo of her marriage certificate with Ryan on Instagram.

My coworkers were all in the comments, sending congratulations. Of course, they did not forget to mock me.

[Nathan Reed may be the CEO’s boyfriend, but Ms. Whitmore still got married to Mr. Chase, didn’t she?]

[What does that dried-up old man have on a young, handsome assistant like Mr. Chase?]

I knew Claire had posted it to provoke me.

But this time, I only gave a cold laugh and liked the post.

Soon, my parents saw the post too and called me.

“Son, what’s going on with Claire’s Instagram? Why did she get married to someone else?”

My parents had always worried about my marriage. All they wanted was to see me and Claire settle down.

But Claire had delayed it again and again.

She felt sorry for Ryan and all his struggles, but she had never once thought about mine.

I was just about to answer when Claire sent me a message.

[Nathan, I made sure not to hide this Instagram post from your parents. They must be panicking right now, aren’t they?]

[If you apologize to Ryan, I can explain to them that it was all a misunderstanding. Otherwise, you can deal with the consequences yourself.]

Before this, Claire had always respected my choices. She never forced me to do anything.

Once, when I went to dinner at her family’s house, I told them I was allergic to eggs, but her mother insisted on making me eat them anyway.

Claire was so furious that she flipped the entire table over.

Now, to force me to apologize to Ryan, she was willing to post on Instagram just to upset my parents.

The woman who once loved me so fiercely was gone.

I ignored her.

I only replied to my parents.

“Mom, Dad, Claire and I are over. I’ll listen to you and go back to Maple Creek for the blind dates.”

My parents had never thought Claire and I were a good match. But back then, I had been willing to leave my hometown behind just to be with her.

Now it seemed they had been right all along.

“Good. Your mother and I will arrange it for you right away!”

After hanging up, I bought a bus ticket for the next day. Then I called a cab and went home to pack.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard laughter inside.

I pushed the door open and saw three pairs of shoes in the entryway.

They were matching family shoes.

I recognized one pair as Claire’s. They had been Ryan’s birthday gift to her, some cheap street stall shoes that cost 8.80.

The workmanship was rough, and the material was cheap.

Yet Claire treasured them like they were priceless.

Meanwhile, the custom designer shoes I had bought her for tens of thousands of dollars sat untouched, gathering dust. She had even said my taste was embarrassing and that wearing them out would humiliate her.

For a while, I had genuinely thought there was something wrong with my taste. I had even humbled myself and asked Ryan how to improve it.

Looking back now, Claire had simply looked down on anything I gave her.

I kicked the three pairs of shoes aside and walked into the apartment.

The moment I looked up, I saw Ryan lounging on the couch in my pajamas, watching television like he owned the place.

His son, Noah Chase, was running barefoot over the spotless white rug.

My mother had stayed up with bloodshot eyes to knit that rug for me herself. Now Noah had trampled it with black footprints.

What made my blood pressure spike even higher was the sight of my carefully collected figurines scattered all over the floor. Several had their arms and legs snapped off.

Furious, I snatched one of the figurines out of Noah’s hand and demanded, “What are you doing in my home?”

Noah lifted his chin stubbornly.

“Mom said it was okay!”

The next second, Claire came out of the kitchen after hearing the noise.

She never cooked, but now she was holding a spatula and making dinner for Ryan and his son.

“Noah, why did you call Mom?”

Claire was about to pick Noah up and comfort him, but when she saw me, she froze.

“Claire, when did you become his mother? Funny how I never heard about that.”

Faced with my question, Claire only paused for a moment before brushing it off.

“Noah grew up without a mother’s love. Letting him call me that a couple of times won’t kill anyone. Besides, why are you suddenly back?”

I almost laughed.

“This is my home. Am I not allowed to come back?

“And you, who gave you permission to bring them here?”

Claire looked perfectly justified.

“Ryan’s place is too far from the school Noah will be attending. The commute is inconvenient, and over time, it will affect Noah’s studies.

“Our home happens to be close to Noah’s school, so I brought them here. The place is big enough anyway. Until Ryan finds a suitable apartment, there’s plenty of room for him and Noah.”

“And what if Ryan never finds a suitable apartment?”

Claire looked fondly at Ryan and Noah.

“Then they can stay. It’s just two extra sets of dishes.”

But before, when I wanted to have my parents stay with us for a while, Claire had refused.

She said she was not used to having other people in the house. She said she was a light sleeper and would be disturbed.

Now, she had taken the initiative to let Ryan and his son live here.

So in the end, only my parents counted as outsiders.

At that thought, my voice darkened.

“I don’t agree to them living here.”

Claire’s face instantly went cold.