The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 207

The Secret Marriage.

“Okay.” Serena gulped, feeling anxious in her seat. “That still doesn’t explain why the whole city thinks Brian is single and dating Gwen. What about you? I thought you had your in-laws’ support?”

Noelle lowered her gaze. “Brian told me it was only temporary.”

She let out a weak laugh that held no humor. “HelixPoint was still new back then. It started as a small AI company with only ten employees. Investors preferred a leader who appeared fully committed to the company—someone without family distractions.”

“He said if people knew he had secretly married and had a child so young, investors might question his judgment,” Noelle explained.

Her fingers tightened around the coffee cup. “And admittedly, I was also scared for myself—my career.”

“So he asked me to keep our marriage private for a while. Just until HelixPoint stabilized. He promised that once the company was secure, we would tell everyone.”

Her voice softened.

“I believed him. His parents believed him too. And shortly after we married, Gwen left to pursue further studies abroad,” Noelle said. “She became a thing of the past, and everything seemed to return to normal.”

“While I was pregnant, our relationship improved. He was back to his old self,” Noelle recounted. “But now that I think about it clearly, it was on and off. Sometimes he was okay. Sometimes… he wasn’t.”

“He was often on business trips, introducing HelixPoint to investors and clients,” Noelle continued quietly. “And because we were married, I tried to help him.”

“My in-laws suggested I work for HelixPoint, and I did. After I gave birth, I worked as one of their engineers. I created a monitoring engine and exclusively signed the license to HelixPoint for ten years.” Noelle rolled her eyes bitterly. “I even named it after us.”

“NOBRI Protocol,” Serena filled in.

The software was an AI infrastructure capable of diagnosing and repairing machine learning systems in real time. Serena remembered it well. Noelle had once used the same system to detect faults in the Vanguard AI Body Scanner.

“Anyway,” Noelle said. “Long story short, HelixPoint is now stable. The business has grown, and he made a name for himself. We didn’t have to hide our marriage anymore… but Brian refused to acknowledge me in public.”

Her voice hardened. “Earlier this year, I discovered that he and Gwen never actually broke up.”

“She was the reason for his long business trips.”

Noelle swallowed. “All that time he was with me, he was only pretending.”

“A few times, he even brought our son, Benson, to meet Gwen overseas.”

Her laugh this time sounded hollow.

“It never clicked back then. I always wondered why my toddler had secrets with his father. I thought it was just a father–son thing. I thought they were just bonding.”

She looked down at the table. “Apparently, Brian was preparing Benson to accept a new mother.”

“The joke was on me,” Noelle muttered.

“I found out because I had decided to visit Brian while he was on a—” Noelle made air quotes. “Business trip.”

“I saw Brian and Gwen having a lovely dinner with my son Benson in a hotel in London.” Noelle’s gaze looked distant, her voice faint. “They looked like the perfect family.”

Tears welled in Noelle’s eyes.

“Do you understand my pain?” Her voice trembled.

“That’s my son.”

“I was the one who held him when he had fevers. I was the one who taught him how to walk, how to talk… I was there for every little thing.”

"He was my baby - my everything." Her lips trembled. “And now Benson looks at me like I’m a stranger.”

Serena’s chest tightened because at this point, Noelle's tears were helplessly falling.

“Legally, Benson should stay with me if we divorce,” she whispered. “But how can I force him to stay… when he doesn’t want me?”

“For the past months, I have been trying to woo my son—to make him love me again—but at the same time, of course, as a mother, I can’t just spoil him with his every whim,” Noelle reasoned.

“I understand you completely,” Serena said. “I have kids. The thought of parting with them breaks my heart.”

There was a long silence between them.

Noelle was thinking.

Serena was also deep in thought. But after a while, she said, “If you let me, I’m willing to help you. Do you have anything planned out tomorrow?"