I stood in the doorway, marriage certificate clutched in my trembling hand, watching Warren's face transform from shock to calculation in the space of a heartbeat.
'Catherine,' he said, voice softening as he rose from his desk chair. 'I can explain.'
'Explain?' My voice sounded foreign to my own ears – hollow, distant. 'Explain how you married Jade Burke seven years ago on the same day you pretended to marry me? Explain how you've been lying to me every single day since?'
He approached slowly, hands raised as if I were a frightened animal. 'It's complicated, Cathy.'
'Don't.' I stepped back. 'Don't call me that. Not now.'
The afternoon light slanted through the window, illuminating dust particles between us – a physical manifestation of the lies separating us. Warren's face crumpled into an expression of practiced remorse.
'I did it to protect you,' he said, reaching for my hand. I yanked it away. 'Jade... she's unstable. Dangerous. You remember what she did to your mother.'
The mention of my mother sent a cold spike through my chest. 'You married the woman who killed my mother?'
'That's why I couldn't tell you!' Warren's voice rose with desperate conviction. 'After what she did, showing those fabricated photos to your mother, triggering her heart attack... I had to keep you safe.'
'By making me your mistress?' The word tasted like poison.
'No!' He stepped closer. 'You're my wife in every way that matters. The certificate might be fake, but my love for you is real.'
I laughed – a brittle, breaking sound. 'Your love? You've been going home to another woman every time you claimed to be on business trips.'
'It's not like that.' Warren's eyes darkened. 'Jade's mother is sick. Terminal. I couldn't divorce her, leave her alone with that burden. But I couldn't lose you either.'
'So you decided to have both.'
He didn't deny it. Instead, he reached for me again, and this time I was too numb to pull away. His fingers closed around my wrist, familiar yet suddenly foreign.
'I love you, Catherine. Only you. Jade is an obligation, nothing more.'
I stared at his hand on my skin, wondering how many times those same fingers had touched Jade. 'If you loved me, you wouldn't have lied for seven years.'
Before he could respond, the front door opened. Heels clicked against hardwood, and there she was – Jade Burke, legal wife of Warren Richards. She was beautiful in the way of poisonous flowers, all striking colors and sharp edges.
'Oh good, you're both home.' Her smile didn't reach her eyes. 'Catherine, I've been wanting to take you somewhere special.'
Warren's grip tightened on my wrist. 'Not now, Jade.'
'Yes, now.' Her voice hardened. 'It's time Catherine and I had a proper chat about family matters.'
Two hours later, I found myself at my mother's grave, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the cemetery. Jade's fingers dug into my shoulder as Warren approached the headstone with something in his hand.
'What are you doing?' I whispered, horror dawning as I recognized the object – a metal tool for carving stone.
'Making things right,' Jade said softly near my ear. 'This grave should honor the right people.'
I lunged forward but Jade's grip was like iron. Warren knelt before my mother's headstone and began scraping the metal against marble. Each scratch echoed in my chest like physical pain as he methodically carved Jade's name over my mother's.
'Stop!' I screamed. 'Warren, please!'
He didn't even look at me. When he finished, he stood back, admiring his work. 'Bring her forward,' he told Jade.
She pushed me toward the desecrated grave where my mother's urn sat in a small niche. Warren removed it and thrust it into my hands.
'Kneel,' he commanded.
When I hesitated, Jade kicked the back of my knees, sending me crashing to the ground. The urn wobbled in my grasp – all I had left of my mother, nearly spilling onto the grass.
'Now,' Warren said, his voice unrecognizable, 'apologize to Jade for stealing her husband.'
I looked up at them standing over me – Warren and Jade, united in cruelty – and realized I'd never known this man at all.
'I'm sorry,' I whispered, not to them but to my mother's ashes cradled in my trembling hands, tears falling onto the polished surface of the urn. 'I'm so sorry.'
