Declared Dead, Replaced by a Fraud

On one mid-autumn day, my national classified mission finally came to an end.

I dug out the phone I hadn't touched for four years, planning to call my wife, Nora Christie, and tell her that I'd be coming home.

But the moment my phone screen lit up, I saw a public court notice declaring me… dead.

I froze. Then, I looked closer. The person who had filed the petition to have me legally declared dead was Nora.

Frowning with confusion, I dialed her number.

With a soft chuckle, she brushed it off, saying that it must have been a clerical error by some court intern. Then, she asked when I would be coming home.

Just when I was about to answer, I heard a soft, restrained moan from Nora. "Ah, don't touch me there…"

Realizing something wasn't right, I told her that I would be back in a few more years before hanging up.

Then, I grabbed the medal I had earned from four years of service to my country, and took the next train home.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I arrived.

Right outside my front door, Nora was holding a wedding ceremony. The groom was Henry Crowley, the poor student I had sponsored!

Their wedding portrait was displayed right at the entrance of my mansion.

In the portrait, Nora Christie, my wife, was in a low-cut mermaid gown, leaning intimately into the arms of Henry Crowley, once a poor student I sponsored.

With darkened expressions, I was just about to step in to demand an explanation when the security guard stopped me.

"Are you here for the wedding? Do you have an invitation? You can't enter without an invitation."

Wedding?

I sneered and dug out my wedding certificate.

"Nora Christie's my wife! What wedding?"

The security guard had a look at the wedding certificate before grumbling impatiently, "Sir, spreading lies is illegal. Ms. Christie's husband has long been missing. Even the court has declared him dead. In the past four years, I only ever saw Ms. Christie and her boyfriend."

I snickered.

So, the moment I went off the grid four years ago, Nora could not wait to throw herself into the arms of Henry.

I was foolish enough to believe her promises of forever waiting for me to come home. What an idiot I was.

"That's because you haven't been working here long enough! I'm the owner of this mansion!"

I rushed forward and placed my thumb on the fingerprint lock.

A shrill alarm instantly blared out!

The security guard lost his patience. He grabbed his baton and swung it down hard on my hand.

"This lock only recognizes Ms. Christie and her boyfriend's fingerprints! You dirty beggar. Did you really think that the door would open for anyone?"

He added with contempt, "With burns all over you like that? Do you think that Ms. Christie would ever choose you? The man she's marrying is a wealthy heir."

Clutching my injured hand, I slowly looked up at the portrait.

Henry was in an expensive custom-made suit, wearing my father's signet ring, a family heirloom.

Rage ignited in my chest.

Before I sponsored him, he was a nobody. He had nothing.

I gave him a place to live. Let him stay in my home and had my house staff take care of him.

After his accident, when he supposedly lost his mind, I paid for every bit of his treatment without hesitation.

And this was how he repaid me?

Great! Amazing.

With reddened eyes, I kicked at the portrait.

Nora heard the commotion happening outside, so she came out with a darkened expression.

When she saw it was me, a hint of nervousness flickered in her eyes. She even stumbled in her footsteps.

"J-John, why are you back so suddenly? Didn't you say that you'd be back in a few years?"

I narrowed my eyes, slowly taking in the love-making marks scattered all over her body.

I pulled out the court notice declaring my death and slapped it on her wedding gown.

"If I didn't come back now, you would have just gone on with the wedding and hold a funeral for me, right?"

Nora's face paled. She shiftily kept the court order and explained timidly, "We're just having a fake wedding. You know that Henry became mentally impaired trying to save me. He's just like a five-year-old now."