From Fake Wife To Billionaire Heiress

nly wasn't Mrs. Baird. She wiped a smudge of dust

t had all started wit

on the high shelf. It wasn't a hard knock, just

hrough the air in what felt like slow motion before it

gunshot in the s

r knees, her hands hovering over the jagged shards of glass. It was their wedding photo. Foster look

to herself, her finger

in the chaos. Water pooled rapidly across the mar

Foster hated mess. He hat

the picture, folded into a tight square, was their marriage license. They ha

was soak

s work instantly. The cheap ink of the date and the o

certified copy just yesterday. If she couldn't produce this, Foster would look at h

PM. Foster wouldn't be bac

floor for a moment. She could fix the mess late

tes of agonizing stop-and-go traffic. Celena picked at her cuticles until

aning. I'm sorry, I'

ffee. She waited in line, shifting her weight from foot to

nse," Celena said, sliding her ID across th

nd chipping nail polish, took the ID

Her phone buzzed in her purse-a reminder to

d. The clerk frow

the cler

wo years ago,

louder this time. Th

e about the

y. We had the ceremony

record of a marriage license filed for a Foster Ba

pped the edge of the counter. "That's impossible

e than you think. Officiant forgets, or maybe... maybe it just never got m

Celena felt bile r

marr

er, the snide comments about her background, the endless hours working as his uncompensated "c

igned the one th

d. Her voice sounded like it

her. Horns, shouting, the rumble of the subway beneath the gr

ain. Not Foster.

d mechanica

The voice was deep,

es

I am the executor of the

ur Kensington. The titan of Wall Street. The man whose face wa

ve the wrong nu

the will. We were able to retrieve a DNA sample from your sealed medical fil

racking sound. "Is this a joke?

u are the sole heir to the Kensington trus

ago, she was a fake wife with nothing. Now, a stranger o

now," she stammered.

sington,

hung

ur. She didn't cry. She couldn't. She f

e penthouse quietly. It was 4:30

mell hit

ral perfum

. Low, throaty laughter c

ss the foyer. She stopped

loosened. Straddling his lap was a woman with blonde wav

hair. He kissed her neck, murmuri

" Ava asked, pulling back slight

ers. "Soon. I just need her to finish the quar

uted. "And she can't e

ontempt. "A barren charity case. As soon as the

the picture frame was still in her pocket, sharp

ream. She did

tears before they could fall. She watched them for another ten se

d walked back to the eleva

-