Chapter 3

Time flew by, and soon it was the day of my discharge from the hospital.

Today was also the day Damien planned to take me to get our marriage license.

Damien canceled all his business appointments and bustled about taking care of everything for me. It wasn't until the moment I was helped into the car that he finally allowed himself to rest.

But his mind was still mostly on me. He held my hand tightly, his eyes filled with anticipation:

"Callie, I'm so happy. After five years, we can finally get our marriage license and become a real married couple. When we get the certificate, I'm definitely going to take a picture and post it online so everyone can witness our love."

I said nothing, just quietly looked at him.

I was very curious - would he really abandon the pregnant Meadow to get a marriage license with me?

Before long, the car stopped in front of the city hall.

Damien gentlemanly escorted me into the building. Throughout the process of taking ID photos, the smile never left his face. He was like a little boy who had just gotten his favorite toy, completely different from his usual reserved and composed self.

The staff couldn't help but envy us when they saw this.

But just as we reached the final step of signing the papers, Damien's phone rang.It was a personalized ringtone. During the three days since I woke up, I had thought about it twenty times. Each time this ringtone sounded, Damien would abandon me, citing work emergencies.

At first, I believed it was true, until I accidentally saw the caller ID displaying "Meadow." Only then did I finally understand that this was all just an enormous deception.

Damien seemed to feel disturbed. He wanted to hang up but hesitated just as he was about to touch the end call button. Eventually, he chose to walk to a secluded corner to answer.

The next second, he turned to me with a tense expression and said:

"Callie, there's an urgent matter at the company, extremely urgent. I have to go deal with it right away. Wait for me here, I'll be back soon."

Without waiting for my response, he turned and rushed out of the courthouse.

I watched his hurried figure disappear, then lowered my head to look at the message Meadow had sent.

"Callie, you lost. I just told Damien I had severe stomach pain and might be miscarrying, and he immediately left you to come find me."

Even through the screen, I could feel her taunting.

I put away my phone, my expression unchanged. As I looked up, I saw a face both familiar and strange.

"Sorry I'm late," the newcomer apologized to me with a hint of guilt.I shake my head, take his hand, and say to the staff with a smile:

"Could we retake the ID photos please? I've changed my groom."

When Damien rushed frantically to Meadow's apartment, she was lounging casually on the couch watching TV.

Seeing Damien arrive, she giggled coyly and went to greet him.

Realizing he'd been tricked, Damien glared at her in annoyance:

"So the stomach ache was a lie?"

Noticing Damien was about to lose his temper, Meadow quickly put on a pitiful act, claiming she truly liked Damien and only called him over because she didn't want him to marry me.

After hearing her explanation, Damien let out a cold laugh:

"I've told you I'm set on marrying Callie for life. If you keep acting so childishly, don't blame me for being unkind."

With that, he left Meadow behind and rushed back to the registry office, only to be informed upon arrival that Callie had already left.

Mason's heart tightened. He took out his phone to call Callie, but was told her phone was switched off.

A sense of unease washed over him. After asking the staff which direction Callie had gone, he ran out in pursuit.Callie had never disappeared before, always notifying him before doing anything. Now that she had suddenly left alone, could she have discovered something?

Most importantly, Callie was blind. Being out alone was extremely dangerous for her.

By this time, Dashiell had already dropped me off at the front door. I gazed at the house before me, filled with memories of Damien, and felt a lump in my throat.

However, I hadn't come back because I couldn't bear to leave, but to retrieve some of my belongings.

I didn't expect that just as I was about to leave with my things, Damien would catch up to me.

Seeing that I was alright, he let out a long sigh of relief:

"Callie, why didn't you tell me you were coming back? I'm sorry about earlier, there was an urgent matter at the company and I didn't have time to sign. Let's go back and get the license again. We'll make sure to get married today no matter what."

Hearing this, I instinctively glanced at the person waiting in the car nearby, then pulled out two marriage certificates and told him:

"There's no need. I've already gotten the certificates."

Damien didn't notice anything amiss, assuming I had signed on his behalf. He looked relieved as he took one of the marriage certificates and said:

"That's great. From now on, we're officially husband and wife. You know what, Callie?I've been waiting for this day for so long.

I furrowed my brow slightly, kindly reminding him, "Why don't you open the marriage certificate and take a look?"

Damien paused for a moment, looking at me with a hint of confusion, but still obediently did as I suggested.As the marriage certificate was opened, what met our eyes was a photo of me with another man, and in the groom's name field were three bold letters: Dashiell.

Damien's face instantly drained of color. He asked me in disbelief:

"Callie, are you playing some kind of joke on me? How did you end up married to someone else?"