I Became My Husband’s Second Wife Novel by Lee Fox _ Novel




I Became My Husband’s Second Wife Chapter 01

It was Rose Bennett's third wedding anniversary with Richard Burke, and some woman who claimed she was Mrs. Burke threw a glass of red wine right in her face.
Rose wiped the wine off her face, thinking the whole thing was totally ridiculous. Richard was her husband.
Three years ago, they had a cruise ship wedding that everyone in town was talking about.
She'd stuck by Richard's side the whole time—when he was on the verge of bankruptcy, and all the way back to becoming a rising star in the business world.
He'd always kept his nose clean. To make her feel safe, he even put her name on all his properties.
Today, Richard had booked the entire rooftop restaurant. He said he wanted to surprise her. How could a guy who only had eyes for her have another wife?
Rose never went looking for trouble, but she didn't back down from it either. She grabbed a glass of ice water off the table, threw it right back at the woman, and coldly told the security guards to kick that crazy lady out.
"You're just a dirty mistress! How dare you throw wine at me!" the woman screamed. She lunged at Rose, trying to yank her hair—but Richard, who'd just walked in, grabbed her wrist mid-move.
"Richard, this crazy woman says she's..." Rose let out a sigh of relief. She was about to finish her sentence when she watched the woman slump right into Richard's arms, her eyes all red and teary, like she'd been wronged.
"Honey, she's bullying me," the woman whimpered.
The whole restaurant went dead silent in an instant.
Nora Kensington pulled a marriage certificate out of her bag and slammed it down on the table. "Take a good look—this one's legally binding! Yours? It's just a fake Richard made to humor you!"
The restaurant manager and waiters, who'd been calling her "Mrs. Burke" left and right just a minute ago, exchanged awkward looks and quietly hung their heads.
Rose felt like all the blood had drained from her body. She stared stiffly at the marriage certificate on the table. The photo on it was clear—Richard and Nora, smiling together.
She turned to Richard, staring blankly, waiting for him to say it wasn't true. But Richard just took off his suit jacket and draped it over Nora's wet shoulders. He frowned a little at Rose and said, "Rose, Nora's the real young mistress of the Burke family. I did have someone forge your certificate."
In that second, Rose got it. All of it. She let out a soft laugh and stood up straight.
When the Burke family went bankrupt, she'd given up her chance to go abroad. She worked three jobs just to scrape together his startup money. He'd held her hand outside the county clerk's office and sworn he'd never betray her, not in this lifetime. But now? The vow was real, but the certificate was a lie.
She was the one getting humiliated in public, and Richard was shielding Nora like his life depended on it—scared she might do something drastic. The heart that had loved him for seven years turned completely cold.
"Richard, you lied to me with a fake certificate for three years. If we don't fix this today, no one's leaving," she said.
As soon as she finished talking, Richard set an unlimited black card on the table. "Back then, the company needed the Kensingtons' investment. I had no choice. Nora can't stand being wronged. Take the money and move out of Burke Manor."
With that, he put his arm around Nora's waist and walked into the private elevator—no looking back. Not even a single glance at Rose, not the whole time.
Right before the elevator doors closed, Nora's whiny voice drifted out: "Honey, she had you all to herself for three years. I'm still mad about it..."
Rose quickly looked away. Once, Richard would get jealous if someone even looked at her the wrong way. Now? Right to her face, he was treating her like nothing but a mistress he could buy off with money.
She pulled out her phone and sent a text to a contact saved as "H": "Look into Nora and Richard for me. Start from the day the Kensingtons invested in the Burke family. I want every single detail."
Thirty minutes later, the files came through. The attachment was full of tight schedules and photos. For Nora's birthday two years ago, Richard chartered a helicopter to drop roses on her. When Nora got sick, he pushed aside a multi-billion-dollar project to stay by her hospital bed for three whole days and nights. Even when Nora got bored and wanted to learn pottery, the big-shot CEO put on an apron and spent the whole afternoon molding clay with her...
All those times he'd told her he was "too busy with work" to spend time with her? He'd been spending all that time with someone else.
Rose's fingers felt a little stiff, but her face was completely blank—no expression at all.
A new text popped up from H: "Is this the guy you threw away your future for? The one you helped climb to the top? You must've been blind."
Then another: "Have you thought about my offer?"
Rose's eyes fell on the screen. The last little flicker of emotion in her eyes faded into total calm. She typed back: "Alright."
Then another message: "Meet me at the county clerk's office in three days. Bring your household register."

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