I Took My Husband’s Mistress To Her Appointment. Then Sent Them Both To Prison Chapter 05
For several long seconds, the room held its breath.
Shock, suspicion, and then anger flashed across Livia’s face before she lifted her chin. “How dare you speak to Rhys like that?”
“He’s the one who hired you!”
I ignored her and kept my eyes on Rhys. His expression had turned thunderous.
“Genevieve.”
His voice dropped into the tone he used when he expected instant obedience. ” Go home. We’ll discuss this in private.”
“Privately?” I laughed softly. “Rhys, what could possibly be left for us to discuss in private?”
Livia finally realized something was wrong. She seized his arm, her nails digging into his suit. “
“Rhys! Who is she? What is going on between you two?”
His lips compressed into a hard line. He didn’t answer.
So I answered for him.
“I’m the woman you claim cashed in a life debt to force him into marriage. I also happen to be his only legal wife.” I watched the blood drain from Livia’s face, enunciating every word.
She froze, then gave a mocking laugh. ” So you’re her.”
“But you’re already divorced. How shameless do you have to be to keep calling yourself Rhys’s wife?”
I smiled too.
“That’s unfortunate. We aren’t divorced.”
“So the shameless one is still you—the mistress.”
“You’re lying!” Livia shrieked, her entire body shaking.
“We’re married! Rhys and I are the real couple!”
“You’re the outsider. The woman he doesn’t love is the real other woman—not me!”
She clung to Rhys’s arm, but her frantic gaze kept darting toward me. ” I saw the final judgment and the certified marriage record.”
“Rhys went to complete everything today. We’re legally married now.”
“Oh? Are you?” I nodded, my calm sharper than any shout.
“That’s interesting. From nine this morning until four this afternoon, I stayed beside you at Cedars-Sinai while you had your examination and waited for the results.”
I looked directly at her.
“You did not go with Rhys to the Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office to apply for a marriage license. You did not participate in a legal marriage ceremony. You did not sign a license in front of an officiant and witnesses.”
Then I turned to Rhys, whose face had gone rigid.
“As for me, I never received a divorce petition. I was never lawfully served.”
“The mandatory waiting period under California law has not passed. The Los Angeles Superior Court could not have issued a valid final judgment today without my knowledge.”
Confusion flickered across Livia’s eyes, then vanished beneath rising anger and panic.
“You don’t know anything! The Sterling family has influence throughout Los Angeles.”
“If Rhys gives an order, someone takes care of it. I saw the seals on those documents with my own eyes.”
“I’m sure the seals looked convincing.” A short laugh escaped me. “People who forge court judgments, county records, and other people’s signatures are usually very good at making lies look official.”
I stepped closer.
“But a convincing lie is still a lie. It doesn’t end my marriage, and it doesn’t make you his wife.”
“And the man who supposedly divorced me has never—not once in five years—asked me for a divorce.”
I studied her bloodless face, then Rhys’s rigid profile, before delivering the final blow.
“So unfortunately for you, right now, I, Genevieve Rowland, remain Rhys Sterling’s only legal wife. And you—”
I paused.
“—are still the mistress who knowingly moved into a married man’s home. The child you’re carrying is protected by law, but he is not automatically the heir you’ve imagined. A forged certificate cannot buy him a place in the Sterling family trust.”