Chapter 243/The Game is Bigger Than You Imagined!

Chapter 243: 243/The Game is Bigger Than You Imagined!

Chapter 243

Stephanie’s POV

I couldn’t drag this disgusting act out for another second. My chest heaved violently in terrifying disarray as a sickening panic surged through my limbs. What if Claire starts digging behind my back and discovers I’m married to Alexander? She never lets anyone cross her without turning their entire past upside down.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying to deflect the accusation:

"Look, Claire, if you’re—"

"I know you only started working at Dominic’s company a short while ago..." She cut me off, her sharp tone slicing through the air as a malicious smirk widened across her face.

She pinned me with her mocking glare, her eyes gleaming:

"...And I also know that you and your sister are living in the Volkov estate."

The blood turned to solid ice in my veins. The breath caught dead in my throat. My fingers clamped around the lower rim of the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, a deadly chill creeping to the tips of my frozen limbs.

My God... She found out!

"What?" The word slipped past my lips in a faint, scattered whisper.

She tilted her head sideways, letting out a sharp, gloating laugh that vibrated with spite:

"Did you think I was stupid? That I wouldn’t realize you play men for a living?"

She crossed her arms tighter, leaning a fraction closer to the window.

"Admit it... You’ve got your eyes set on the Volkov sons too!"

My eyes widened in utter disbelief, my mind stalling for a frantic second. Doesn’t she know I’m married to Alexander? Did she really dig behind my back and fail to find my marriage certificate or my pregnancy records?

"Why are you digging behind my back?" I managed to rasp out, my voice trembling as I tried to gauge her angle.

"Because I know you’re a gold-digger!" She thrust her face closer to the glass, her tone sharpening like a blade. "And you intend to marry either Dominic or one of the Volkov brothers!"

The void in my chest widened into a lethal spiral of confusion. It’s impossible... How could someone as suspicious and thorough as Claire fail to uncover an official marriage document?

Before I could piece together a response, the heavy front gates of the estate swung open. Dominic emerged in his tailored dark suit, exuding his suffocating authority.

He closed the distance with measured steps, his cold eyes darting back and forth between us:

"Is there an emergency meeting taking place at my front door that I wasn’t informed about?"

Claire recoiled instantly. Her sharp malice evaporated into a practiced, sycophantic smile as her hands dropped in visible fluster:

"Dominic! Good morning..." She smoothed down her jacket nervously. "...I just wanted to drop by and say hello."

"You’ve said it, Claire..." Dominic interjected in a flat, ruthless tone that cut off all conversation.

His fingers clamped with absolute dominance over the car door frame as he glared at her:

"...You can leave now."

He brushed past her with cold dismissiveness and stepped toward me. Leaning down through the open window, he pressed a heavy, lingering kiss to my lips right before Claire’s burning eyes.

His gravelly voice dropped into a possessive whisper against my skin:

"Good morning, sweetheart."

I offered a silent nod, while Claire stood behind us, practically incinerating in her own rage. Dominic pulled the door open and slid smoothly into the passenger seat beside me.

I turned the ignition, slamming my foot onto the pedal. The car shot down the street, leaving Claire standing on the curb, consumed by her own venom.

Thoughts battered my mind like a raging tempest. If Claire hasn’t discovered my pregnancy or my marriage, it means a hidden hand wiped every trace of those documents clean.

I glanced toward Dominic, my eyes heavy with bewilderment and forced gratitude:

"Thank you, Dominic..."

He adjusted the band of his silver wristwatch with a flick of his wrist, cutting his eyes toward me with a silent question:

"For what?"

"For somehow hiding my marriage and my pregnancy so Claire wouldn’t find out."

He locked his intense gaze onto my profile, uttering in a dry, unamused voice:

"I didn’t do anything."

The shock hit my brain like a lightning strike. In an involuntary reaction, my muscles locked and my foot slammed down on the brake pedal with wild force!

The tires shrieked violently against the asphalt. Dominic’s body slammed forward under the sudden momentum, his head nearly cracking against the windshield.

He slammed back into his seat, pure rage flaring in his eyes as a suffocating heat filled the cabin:

"What the fuck was that?!"

Tears of sheer panic and pressure welled up in my eyes.

Spinning toward him with ragged gasps, my hands shook uncontrollably against the wheel as I shrieked:

"What do you mean Claire doesn’t know I’m married?!"

He narrowed his eyes in genuine perplexity, his tone dropping into an eerie calm:

"Do you want her to know?"

"Dominic, answer me!" I slammed my palm against the steering wheel in sheer desperation, my voice cracking in my throat. "Are you the one behind this?! Are you hiding things from me?!"

He raised both hands in a slow, deliberate motion, eyeing me with absolute sternness:

"I swear to you, it wasn’t me."

I gripped the wheel with everything I had left until my knuckles turned bone-white, resting my forehead against it for a few agonizing seconds as cold sweat broke across my skin:

"Something isn’t right... Something dark is happening behind my back."

"Like what?" he asked, his posture rigid.

I raised my head, my eyes bloodshot with terror:

"How could Claire not know I’m married?!"

I grabbed his sleeve desperately, searching his eyes.

"How could a piece of information that basic and public be completely hidden from someone who digs as thoroughly as Claire?!"

The corner of his lip curled into a cold, mocking smirk:

"Maybe you aren’t married to begin with..."

"Enough with the bullshit!" I screamed straight at his face, the sound vibrating through the car frame as bitter tears spilled down my cheeks. "My nerves are completely shot! I can’t take your stupid jokes!"

His sarcastic expression faded instantly, replaced by a dark, calculating gravity.

He took a heavy drag of air, his voice dropping low:

"Fine... Calm down. We’ll go and check for ourselves."

I furrowed my brows in utter confusion, wiping a stray tear from my cheek:

"What do you mean?"

"We go to the official registry office."

"Are you insane?!" I recoiled back, staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. "I am married! Did I hallucinate my own wedding?! Did I imagine the priest standing right there conducting our vows in front of everyone?!"

"Stephanie..." he tried to cut in with a steady voice, placing a hand on the console.

"Did I imagine signing the official registry with my own hand?!" I shouted, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. "I saw our names and photos printed clearly on the paper!"

He brought a heavy hand down on my shoulder, cutting off my mounting hysteria with a firm, unyielding grip:

"I’m not saying you aren’t married..." He locked his eyes onto mine, leaving no room for argument. "...I’m simply saying: let’s go check the physical documents ourselves."

My fingers tightened around the wheel. I stared at his stone-cold face; his silence felt heavier than any answer, my thoughts colliding inside my head like crashing waves. Is it possible that everything I lived through was just an illusion? The contract, my signature, the witnesses, Alexander sliding the ring onto my finger... Was it all just a masterfully staged play?

I yanked the steering wheel in a sharp arc, and the car shot forward with a loud screech toward the central civil registry. The drive felt agonizingly slow, the deep hum of the engine reverberating in my ears like war drums.

Dominic didn’t utter a single word the entire way; he simply stared out the window with ice-cold eyes, resting his chin on his fist in a quiet composure that only heightened my panic.

The car finally ground to a halt before the massive stone building. I scrambled out before the tires had even stopped moving, my frantic, uncoordinated steps carrying me up the grand pathway. Dominic followed behind with slow, confident strides, looking as if he were taking a casual stroll through his own courtyard.

I shoved open the heavy glass doors and stepped into the bustling hall, the air thick with the murmur of crowd noise, the clatter of printers, and the sharp scent of old paper and disinfectant.

I halted before a digital service desk where a clerk sat with a dreary, routine expression. I rattled off my full name and Alexander’s name through ragged breaths and trembling lips.

"Just a moment, miss..." the clerk murmured without looking up, her fingers clacking rapidly across her keyboard.

The seconds dragged like endless years. I leaned heavily against the wooden edge of the desk, my entire body braced as I tracked every twitch of the clerk’s face.

Suddenly, her fingers froze over the keys. Her eyes narrowed at the screen before her, and she shook her head in mild confusion before looking up at me:

"Are you sure about the spelling of these names?"

The lump in my throat tightened painfully.

"Yes..." I rasped out, clutching the edge of the counter. "...I am completely sure. Alexander Volkov and Stephanie Miller."

She clicked her mouse once more, then spun the monitor slightly toward me, spreading her hands in helpless resignation:

"I’m sorry, miss, but there is no record of an active or previous marriage under these two names in the entire national system..."

She tapped the glass gently with her pen.

"...You can see for yourself."

Her words struck my mind like a sledgehammer. My eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock. I leaned in so close my forehead nearly brushed the screen. The box reserved for civil status was entirely empty... No contract, no date, no trace whatsoever of the night I thought had rewritten my entire life.

I stumbled back a step... then another, until my spine bumped against Dominic’s solid chest right behind me.

I spun toward him, my face drained completely white, my wildly searching eyes desperate for a lifeline in his sharp features.

Dominic leaned down slightly toward me. A faint, cold smile touched his lips, masking his thoughts as he leaned into my ear, his voice dropping into a low, shadowy whisper:

"Now... Do you believe that the game is so much bigger than you imagined, Stephanie?"