Chapter 4

Merry “I am sorry. Miss. Merry. I am just a messenger.” “How is this even valid?” I questioned. “If you look properly, you will see where you signed. That was you agreeing to her making you her next of kin. Now that you are married and honored the will, everything she owns including the debts is all yours. I couldn’t believe my ears. I flipped the pages and sure enough, there were a few of my signatures in the damn paper. I remember signing them some years ago. She made me sign them in exchange for my tuition fee. Back then, I didn’t have a choice and didn’t think it would affect me badly so I just signed without reading. “This can’t be valid. I was just freshly eighteen when I signed those papers and she stopped being a mother to me all those years ago. I am not the only family member she has.” I let out. “You are the only listed family member and you get the house. the cars too.” I honestly wanted to bite off the head of the lawyer. He knew everything wasn’t okay yet he pressured me into marrying and now I was trapped in a dark web with no way of coming out. The house wasn’t worth that much. Even if I sell it, I won’t be able to pay off half of the debts. My eyes went to my new husband who has been silently watching everything unfold. I was sure he was regretting everything now. I promised him fifty percent and now he might be in fifty percent debt too. I am damn sure the shits going on in his mind would be to find a way to run away without being noticed. “Even if I am her only listed family, I can’t pay off her debts. “You don’t have a choice in this. If you don’t start paying, it will only increase.” He responded. I opened and closed my mouth. I couldn’t get any words out. I was just too shocked by everything, just when I thought it was going to be better, I only succeeded in falling into a trap that my adoptive mother had set for me. I wonder how many years it took for her to accumulate such a huge amount of debt. “I can’t believe you made me believe that I will be getting a fortune out of this when you knew all along that all I would be getting would be debts that I can’t pay off in the next ten years unless I get a really good job that pays loads of money.” I fired out at the lawyer. I hated him the most because he could have warned me. I could have stayed away. Could have left the courthouse as soon as Alex said he wasn’t going to marry me. “You can’t blame me for your greed,” The older man spat out, gathering the papers on the table. “What?” I asked in disbelief. Over the last six months, I have spoken to this man countless times and all those times, he has been nice to me. I couldn’t believe he fooled me too. “You heard me. You are a greedy person. If you weren’t greedy, you would not have fallen into her trap. If you guys weren’t talking while she was alive, what made you believe she would just leave a fortune to you?” He was right. Maybe I was greedy. I haven’t seen or spoken to my mother since the day after prom. I shouldn’t have expected anything from her. “Don’t call her that.” Collin finally spoke after silently watching the whole thing unfold. I turned to him with tears in my eyes. He reached out and held my hands. I let him because it gave me a little strength. “If you don’t want me to speak to her like that then you should take her out of my office. I have done my part. It’s up to her to start paying off the debts or risk adding more.” The lawyer responded. The way his tone changed from the caring man I have known for six months. What’s with me and attracting two-faced men? “You failed to do your job properly and this won’t be the last time that you will be hearing from me.” Collin told the lawyer who scoffed. “You will regret this.” He added and pulled me to my feet. He led me out of the lawyer’s office. I let him hold me until we got outside the law firm. “Wait here,” My new husband said and started typing on his phone. He turned around and took a few pictures of the law firm. I wondered what he wanted to do with the photos he was taking. He continued typing on his phone again while I stood there waiting for him to be done so that I could tell him our deal was off. I saw no reason why we should remain married. The inheritance was a scam and now, all I have is a huge debt and a mansion that won’t pay off all the debt. “I think we should go our separate ways now.” I told Collin when he stopped typing on his phone. He stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “Say what now?” He questioned, tucking his phone into his pocket. “You heard me. it will be best for you to walk away now. There’s no inheritance so you can just walk away and we both don’t lose anything.” I repeated. I had enough on my plate, I couldn’t add a man to the mix right now. Plus, I have nothing to offer him like I promised so there’s no need for us to still be married. “Who said that I am going to walk away from you? You are my wife now. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t get your inheritance. You are mine for the next two years so you can’t get rid of me.” He sounded a little too possessive and that kind of scared me. I thought about it earlier and now I couldn’t help but think about it again. “What do you want me to do? Leech off you? You don’t even know me. I am telling you that you can walk away. I am sorry that I dragged you into my mess.” I tried again. Now, I really wanted to get rid of him. I can’t believe I went through the troubles of finding a spouse just to get loads of debts that I didn’t accumulate dumped on me. “You don’t tell me what to do, woman. You are my wife and you will remain my wife for as long as it is stated in our contract.” He raised his voice for the first time. Now even he was showing his true color. “The contract isn’t even valid. There’s literally no contract. I haven't signed any papers yet. the only thing we signed was the marriage contract the court gave and I just need to submit a petition for that to be off.” I let out. He laughed. not a happy laugh but one that showed he might be angry at me. “Look, I am sorry if you think I led you on and promised you things that I couldn’t give but think about it. you will be better off without me in your life..” I let out and sniffed back tears. “Let me worry about that. I am your husband now and it’s my job to take care of you.” “Why are you being so difficult? Why are you so hell-bent on keeping me with you?” I yelled at him. His adamant attitude was making me even more suspicious of his motives.