Exposing My Fake Husband From Billionaire Heir to Nothing

The internet was flooded with doomsday rumors. My husband, Marcus, a hardcore prepper enthusiast, immediately started panicbuying emergency supplies.

At three in the morning, Marcus came back with a truckload of emergency drinking water he had bought from the next city.

The moment his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep. In the quiet room, I heard him mumble in his sleep. "Babe, I upgraded our son's bugout bag.

Make sure you pack the emergency rations and the GPS beacon." A chill ran down my spine. Marcus and I had been on birth control for three years. What son?

Listening to his endless sleeptalking, I took out my phone and dialed an international number. "Dad, your soninlaw is cheating on me.

Cut off all funding to Sterling Enterprises immediately." Because of the recent doomsday rumors online, our house was piling up with more and more survival gear.

From freezedried food to emergency candles, Marcus had bought almost everything available on the market.

Yesterday afternoon, Marcus heard from a friend about a new brand of portable drinking water with an extremely long shelf life.

To ensure we had clean water when the apocalypse hit, he drove over ten hours to load up his trunk.

When he finally got home, he took a quick shower and crashed from sheer exhaustion. Looking at my husband sleeping soundly beside me, I couldn't help but chuckle.

He was always so childish yet ridiculously overprepared. Suddenly, he twitched and began to mumble. "Babe..." I immediately whispered back, "Yeah?

I'm here." But the next words out of his mouth made my smile freeze instantly. He mentioned "our son." We had been married for three years and on strict birth control. What son?

I nudged Marcus twice, but he didn't wake up. He was still dead to the world. Yet his sleeptalking didn't stop. "Leo is outgrowing his clothes so fast.

We need to buy him some new ones soon... I'll take you out for your favorite artisanal gelato afterward." "I love you so much, baby.

I want to spend the rest of my life with you." "Just wait until I dump Nora..." My heart plummeted. A cold wave of desolation washed over me.

For three years, we were the perfect, doting couple. He was attentive and complied with my every whim. But all this time, he was planning to dump me? Wait.

Who were the "baby" and "son" he was talking about? Could it be... I crept out of bed and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

Using my birthday, which he used as his passcode, I unlocked it. His main apps were completely clean.

But then I dug deeper into his hidden folder and found a burner Snapchat account. The burner Snapchat had only one contact. The display name was [Vivi, Marcus's Baby].

Most of the chat history had been wiped. The most recent message was from her: [Leo was so good at preschool today. He kept asking for his daddy.

I'm so excited for our wedding in three days! Just thinking about it makes me so happy.] My breathing grew shallow, and my hands started to tremble.

Even after taking a sedative to calm down, I still couldn't believe it. Marcus was cheating on me, and he already had a son with someone else.

Wiping away the tears blurring my vision, I remembered his recent obsession with buying survival gear. I opened the Amazon tracking app on his phone.

It showed: [17 packages in transit...] I clicked on each one. The packages were being shipped to two different addresses.

One was our house, and the other was— [Apartment 1306, Oakridge Towers] The mistress's apartment?!

I used my own phone to take photos of the evidence, then slipped his phone back exactly where it was. After some quick thinking, I called my dad.

It was three in the morning here, which meant it was noon where my dad was traveling. He picked up almost instantly. I got straight to the point. "Dad, Marcus is cheating on me.

I'm looking into it, but in the meantime, cancel all of our family's financial support for Sterling Enterprises." "That bastard!" My dad had been thrilled to hear from me, but now he was absolutely livid. "Don't worry, sweetheart.

If Marcus really did this, I will ruin the entire Sterling family."

I didn't sleep a wink that night. Sitting on the living room sofa, I dug into every woman in Marcus's social circle.

I hired two top paparazzi agencies to dig up dirt, and by sunrise, I had a prime suspect. Her name was Vivian Carter, twentynine years old.

Coincidentally, she and Marcus had gone to the same middle school, high school, and university. They had even worked at the same company after graduation.

But when Marcus was welcomed back to the wealthy Sterling family as their longlost son four years ago, he had never mentioned her name to me. "Babe?" Marcus's voice startled me from behind.

I quickly snapped my laptop shut. "Why are you up so early?

Are you feeling okay?" Marcus looked at me with deep concern. "If I didn't have to go on this business trip today, I'd cancel everything just to stay and take care of you.

But you know how it is. A man has to focus on his career." I remained silent, watching him closely. "Babe, I'll be gone for a week.

Take good care of yourself while I'm away." Marcus reached down to massage my shoulders—a habit of his.

Over our three years of marriage, he always did this to help me relax, claiming he had taken professional massage classes just for me.

I used to be incredibly touched by his thoughtfulness, but now, his touch made my skin crawl.

I grabbed his wrist and gently pushed him away. "If you have a flight to catch, you should go pack." "Alright.

I'll bring you back the latest designer bag when I return." With that, Marcus leaned down to plant a kiss on my cheek. I smiled as I watched him head to the bedroom.

The second he turned his back, I grabbed a wet wipe and aggressively rubbed my cheek until it was red and raw. I still felt dirty.

I waited until Marcus packed his things and left before I got up. Perhaps he was in a rush, because he didn't even question why I dodged his goodbye kiss.

He just smiled warmly and hurried out the door. Half an hour later, he Snapchated me a picture of his boarding pass and a selfie at the airport. [Heading out, babe!

Make sure you eat well while I'm gone!] I stared at the screen, lost in thought.

If I hadn't overheard those mumbled words last night, I would never have associated the word "cheater" with Marcus.

He always kept me updated on his itinerary, and this trip was no exception. But I didn't have time to care about his fake updates.

I contacted the private investigators and drove straight to Oakridge Towers. Following the address from the Amazon tracker, I arrived at a beautifully decorated apartment complex.

My prior search showed that the condo was registered under a woman named Brenda Carter, but she had never actually lived there.

Standing in the hallway on the 13th floor, I watched Marcus's GPS tracker on my phone as I took a deep breath and walked forward.

Just as the door to Apartment 1306 swung open, I stepped right in front of it.

I turned my head and locked eyes with a panicked Marcus, who nearly dropped the bag of trash in his hand. "Nora?!" Behind him stood Vivian Carter, her hair tied in a high ponytail.

She reacted fast. "Mr. Sterling, we are so honored that you came to check on our employee welfare, but how could we let you hold the trash?" "Oh, this must be Mrs.

Sterling!" Vivian smiled warmly, extending her hand. "Hello, ma'am. I'm the cleaning contractor for Mr.

Sterling's office." I ignored her hand, staring straight at Marcus with a knowing look. "Marcus, didn't you say you were going on a business trip?

What are you doing here... with another woman?" "It's a misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding!"

Marcus set the trash down and tried to wrap his arm around my shoulder, but I deftly stepped aside. "You see, our company has always had an employee outreach program.

Vivian is a single mother and one of our key support targets.

As for why I lied about the business trip... it's because I wanted to surprise you, babe." "Oh?" I smirked. "What kind of surprise? Do tell." "Our anniversary is coming up, right?

I wanted to plan an incredibly romantic event for you. But with work being so busy, I had to fake the business trip to set up the venue myself.

The venue is actually right around the corner. If you don't believe me, I can take you there right now." "Sure, let's go," I agreed instantly. The smile on Vivian's face froze.

I looped my arm through Marcus's. "Let's take a look." I didn't let go of Marcus's arm all the way downstairs.

Sensing the barely concealed jealousy radiating from Vivian, I intentionally said, "Vivian, why don't you come with us? You can help us with the setup." "Of course, Mrs.

Sterling." I didn't miss the frantic looks Vivian was throwing at Marcus.

I also didn't miss the fact that the pinkthemed decorations at the venue were clearly meant for a wedding, but I pretended to be completely oblivious.

Right in front of Vivian, I wrapped my arms around Marcus's neck. "You're the best, babe. Even though pink isn't really my color, I can use this venue to throw a party for my girls.

Let's schedule it for the day after tomorrow." "Make sure you join us, Vivian." Vivian's face went from pale to horrified, but she had to force a polite smile and agree.

After staying at the venue for a bit, I made an excuse about needing to check out some real estate in the area and left the two of them there.

They thought they had successfully fooled me.

What they didn't know was that the entire venue was wired with hidden cameras, and their conversation was streaming live to my phone. "Alright, don't be mad," Marcus whispered, hugging Vivian and wiping her tears. "I didn't expect Nora to show up out of nowhere.

I had to play along so she wouldn't suspect anything." "But that was supposed to be our wedding venue!" "We can have the wedding another time.

Right now, the priority is the Vance family fortune, isn't it?

We need to secure our son's inheritance so he gets the best head start in life." To cheer Vivian up, the two of them held a private, mock wedding in the "empty" venue.

Watching Marcus passionately recite his wedding vows and share a sweet, deep kiss with Vivian, my heart ached with a sharp, familiar pain.

At our grand highsociety wedding in downtown three years ago, he had whispered those exact same sweet promises to me. I locked my phone.

The person I was waiting for had arrived. "Well, well, the great heiress Nora Vance actually sought me out.

I thought you looked down on my profession," Ryan Cole said, sitting across from me with a camera slung around his neck. "So, what do you need me to do?" He was my childhood friend.

Despite coming from a prominent banking family, he insisted on opening a private detective agency.

His parents and I had been incredibly disappointed in him, and we hadn't spoken in a long time. "My husband, Marcus, is cheating on me.

I want you to dig up everything on him from the day he was born. I want to ruin him." Ryan rolled his eyes and sighed. "I told you you were crazy to marry him.

A guy raised in the slums for over twenty years who suddenly gets recognized as a rich heir is never going to be a real gentleman." Even though Ryan lectured me, he agreed to the job.

He promised to deliver enough hard evidence within two days so I could make Marcus famous at the party. But before the party could even begin, a wrench was thrown in the gears.

Vivian's son was kidnapped. I only found out three hours after the incident. Marcus was supposed to pick up my designer gown but had gone radio silent.

When I called him, this was the news I received. "An employee's child is missing, so as the boss, I couldn't just sit by," Marcus said, his tone suddenly shifting. "By the way, babe, where did you go yesterday afternoon?" What was that supposed to mean?

Was he implying I had something to do with Vivian's son's disappearance? "I was shopping and getting coffee. Why?" Marcus chuckled nervously to hide his embarrassment. "Nothing.

I'll head back as soon as we find the kid." But the whole situation struck me as bizarre. I had run a background check on Vivian.

She came from an ordinary, middleclass background and had never crossed paths with anyone dangerous. Why would anyone kidnap her son?

Usually, only wealthy families were targeted for ransom—like the Sterling family, or...

I suddenly remembered that when I had Ryan investigate Vivian, we couldn't find any public records of her having a son.

Suspicious, I reached out to Ryan again. "I need you to look into one more thing. Vivian's son goes to Harbor Preschool.

I want his complete file." Half an hour later, Ryan sent over a document that left me absolutely speechless. The document listed the child's name as Leo Sterling.

Father: Marcus Sterling. Mother: Nora Vance. Seeing my own name listed as the mother sent a violent shiver down my spine.

Recalling how Marcus had asked for our marriage certificate and ID cards right after our wedding under the guise of buying a house, a terrifying thought crossed my mind.

I rushed into Marcus's study. Using our anniversary date as the code, I opened his safe. At the very bottom lay our official family registry and adoption documents.

My suspicion was confirmed. He and Vivian's son had been legally adopted under my name! [The kid was legally adopted under your joint names, Nora.] [I checked the records.

He was taken from Sunshine Orphanage three years ago. The adoption papers were finalized that same year.] [Legally, adoption requires both spouses to be present.

Since you knew nothing about this, he must have forged your signature and used a lookalike or paid someone off to bypass the registry.] Ryan's text messages poured in, each line a screaming reminder that I had been a pawn in their elaborate scheme from the very beginning.

While keeping tabs on Marcus's bank accounts, I drove straight to Sunshine Orphanage to meet the director.

The moment I showed her Leo's photo, she recognized him instantly. "That's little Andy!" "He was abandoned at our doorstep as a baby.

But he was adopted shortly after his first birthday." When I asked about the adoptive parents, she was hesitant to share information.

Only after I showed her my marriage certificate and ID did she agree to pull up the security footage from three years ago, which she had saved on her computer.

Seeing Marcus and Vivian holding hands in the video as they signed the adoption papers made my blood boil with sheer rage. "I can't believe they forged your identity!

This completely violates adoption laws. I'll call them in right away." I held her hand to stop her from dialing. "Wait.

Let me handle this, please." The director handed me a folder containing Leo's childhood photos, monthly health records, and a lock of his baby hair kept from his first birthday.

I knew that to win a divorce lawsuit with maximum leverage, my evidence had to be bulletproof.

With the baby hair in hand, I went home and grabbed Marcus's toothbrush, which he had used that morning.

I drove to the private hospital owned by my family and handed both samples to a trusted doctor. "Run a DNA test on these two samples immediately."