Love Is but an Illusion

I once thought that my and Sebastian Ford's love would last a lifetime.

Yet, the man who claims to love me does everything possible to hurt me. He takes wedding photos with another woman and goes on vacation with her. They even sleep in the same room.

When making love to me, he speaks to a friend in a foreign language. He tells the friend he will marry another woman but keep me bound to him with a fake marriage certificate.

Sebastian Ford pinned me against the glass of the floor-length windows in the office, leaving me unable to move an inch. As he kissed my earlobe and my chest, I indulged myself in his warm breath.

His kisses were scorching and passionate. My heart pounded in my chest as my dress was torn to shreds by his hands. I wrapped my legs around his waist and responded to his kiss.

The bustling streets stretched below the building, outside the transparent glass. Could there be someone watching from the office building across from us? At this thought, I felt a little embarrassed.

This was the first time I ever made love with him in the office.

Sebastian seemed to see through my thoughts. He lifted my head and made me look at the reflection of our entwined bodies in the glass. His muscular physique was strong and defined, while my figure was curvaceous and seductive.

He tightened his grip on my waist and said with a chuckle, "What are you afraid of? No one will disturb us. Besides, we've done far more intimate things than this. What's there to be nervous about?"

His well-defined muscles pounded powerfully against my delicate body.

Instinctively, I clung to his neck. My actions were filled with affection and attachment for him.

However, a sudden ringtone stopped Sebastian in his movements.

We were interrupted at the worst time. With a frown, he answered the call immediately and said in a cold voice, "Who is this?"

I recognized the voice that came from the other end. It was his friend, Zachary Lance. "It's me, Zachary."

Sebastian's expression softened slightly before switching to Francian. "What do you want?"

A brief silence came from the other end before Zachary demanded, "Sebastian, have you lost your mind? Cassandra just returned from abroad, and you already got a marriage certificate with her? Are you insane?

"Where was she when you suffered an accident and laid in bed for five years in a coma? She ran off abroad the very next day! Now that she has returned, you married her the moment she steps back into your life? Are you an idiot?"

At that moment, the warmth in my body completely drained away from head to toe.

Every complex word in Francian translated itself into Elgerian in my mind automatically.

However, Sebastian was unaware of the fact that I understood his every word. He simply replied indifferently, "So what? If I don't marry Cassandra, her stepmother will send her overseas to warm the bed of some 60-year-old man. She has no one else to rely on but me."

"What about Joanna? You've been with her for so long. Are you going to just abandon her? Back then, you were nothing but a breathing corpse in that hospital bed.

"She was the one who took care of you day and night! No one in the world loves you more than she does! She loves you so much, but how could you…"

The more Zachary spoke, the more agitated he became. His voice grew louder in anger, but Sebastian remained unfazed as he replied, "I know. That's why I'll keep this a secret. She won't find out."

"Keep it a secret? Everyone knows you're registering your marriage and having a wedding next week! How the hell are you going to marry Joanna now that you've already registered a marriage certificate with Cassandra? It's against the law for you to have two marriage certificates!"

"That's enough!" Sebastian's expression darkened as he said impatiently, "My marriage with Cassandra will only last for two years. After that, we'll get a divorce.

"I'll arrange a fake marriage certificate for Joan next week, and the wedding will go on as planned. There won't be a problem as long as you all keep quiet about this fake marriage certificate!"

After hearing this, Zachary was so furious that he hung up immediately.

Sebastian turned back to me and started kissing my chest again. However, I felt nothing but coldness in my heart. He knew I wouldn't be happy about this, yet he still did it behind my back. Did he even truly love me? My heart ached terribly at the thought.

I no longer had the energy to respond to his touch. Moments later, he reached his climax.

Sebastian let go of me and turned around to fix his clothes.

Suddenly, his phone rang once more. I vaguely heard a woman's voice on the other end.

"Alright. I understand." Sebastian hung up and turned to look at me with a calm expression. "Joan, I need to meet a client. You can head back on your own or have my assistant send you home."

With that, he grabbed his coat and left in a hurry. He didn't even spare me a glance, leaving me standing alone in the empty office. I let out a bitter laugh as a tear slid down my cheek.

Sebastian had no idea that I had pushed myself to learn several foreign languages back then to be worthy of him. Among them was Francian.

I clearly heard every single word that Zachary spoke to him. His words pierced straight into my heart like a blade. In actual fact, I should have expected this day to come.

After all, I was just the daughter of a lowly driver. In contrast, Sebastian was the heir to a billion-dollar corporation.

Long ago, I met Sebastian by chance when I accompanied my father to the Ford residence. He sat in front of a floor-length window and was painting quietly with a brush in hand.

That single glance had etched him into my soul, but I never told anyone.

Because I knew that I was never meant to stand beside him.

It wasn't only the vast difference in our statuses that made me feel inferior, but more importantly, I knew that Sebastian had a girlfriend that he loved to the core—Cassandra Sutton.

They were childhood friends and grew up together. Sebastian was always cold to others, but he only showed his gentle smiles to Cassandra and protected her fiercely in every way.

Even the accident that turned him into a vegetable and left him bedridden for five years was because of Cassandra.

At the critical moment, Sebastian had pushed her back to safety and sacrificed himself to protect his beloved woman as he fell from the high-rise building.

Although he was fortunate enough to survive, he ended up in a coma. After learning about the incident, Cassandra left the country and cut off all contact the very next day.

Everyone believed that Sebastian had become a useless invalid. Moreover, his own parents planned to abandon him and groom a new successor. I was the one who willingly stepped forward and requested to be a personal caretaker for the bedridden Sebastian.

Even the renowned surgeon who eventually healed Sebastian was someone whom I had begged a long time to operate on him. Sebastian recovered quickly after undergoing the surgery. It didn't take long for him to regain his footing within the Ford family and become the CEO of Ford Corporation.

I stood by him through the darkest period of his life and eventually became his girlfriend. The vast difference in our social status pushed me to work harder constantly in order to catch up with him.

I gave it my all, but I was never able to gain the recognition of his parents. Yet, Sebastian always stood by my side and told his parents that he would marry no one but me.

He insisted on marrying me even without their approval. He promised to register our marriage and give me an unforgettable wedding.

I thought I was the woman he had truly chosen. Despite all the challenges ahead, I would be the one always by his side, and the one whom he would grow old with.

However, I never expected that this was all a lie.

In his heart, Sebastian had never let go of Cassandra.

Since that was the case, then our relationship should end here. I took out my phone and called Emily Potts, Sebastian's mother. "Mrs. Ford, I agree to your offer. I'll break up with Sebastian if you give me 50 million. Then, we will never see each other again."