Chapter 2

2

The next morning, while Kelsey was still asleep, I quietly took our marriage certificate and left the house.

I drove straight to the county clerk's office.

I slid the document across the counter to the clerk.

"Hi, could you please verify if this marriage certificate was issued here?"

The clerk opened our certificate and took a quick look.

"It's a fake. There's no way this came from our office."

"Where on earth did you get this?"

Even though I had braced myself for this outcome, my entire body began to tremble.

Kelsey and I had been in the same class from elementary school all the way through high school.

So was Damian.

Our families used to be close business partners, so Damian and I grew up as best friends.

Back in school, everyone tried to get on our good side.

It was simply because our families were wealthy and we had more allowance than anyone else.

However, Damian was always more charming than me.

I used to be chubby and wore thick glasses as a kid.

Damian was tall, lean, and carried an aloof bad-boy vibe that naturally drew all the girls in.

Kelsey was one of those girls.

Her family was working-class, and she looked fairly average.

My feelings for her started in high school.

During freshman year, I dealt with a lot of bullying.

Older kids frequently targeted Damian and me after school.

Kelsey would always bring a group of girls over to stand up for us.

That was the exact moment I fell for her.

She was brave, outspoken, and seemed completely fearless.

She even got into physical fights with people just to protect us.

I always thought it was amazing that a girl could be the hero saving the day.

Deep down, though, I knew she had stepped in mainly to save Damian.

During our senior year, Damian's father partnered with a massive corporate group in New York.

His entire family packed up and relocated there.

Kelsey spent months crying over his departure.

Throughout those miserable months, I stayed by her side every single day.

Whatever she wanted to do, I went along without hesitation.

White-water rafting, bungee jumping, and riding the most extreme roller coasters.

I conquered every terrifying ride I used to avoid just to keep her company.

Even though I ended up throwing up and crying after almost every single one.

Gradually, Kelsey stepped out of the shadow of heartbreak.

One afternoon, while I was leaning against a trash can throwing up after a coaster ride, Kelsey handed me a bottle of water.

"Caleb, you're so silly. You're terrified of heights, so why do you keep putting yourself through this for me?"

I smiled through the nausea. "Because I just want to see you happy."

That simple sentence cracked open Kelsey's guarded heart.

In the heat of that moment, she leaned in and kissed my cheek.

Watching her run away blushing, my heart beat like crazy.

After that day, I hit the gym hard and threw myself into my studies.

By the time college started, I had lost all the weight and got accepted into the same university as Kelsey.

Naturally, we transitioned into dating and became an official couple.

For ten years, we treated each other with respect and rarely argued.

To be fair, that was mostly because I was always the one compromising.