"Hey! Are you deaf?!" A loud yell from behind shattered her thoughts. The fragile, lean young woman jolted in surprise, heart pounding as she spun toward the source of the commotion. She was standing directly in front of a car, its headlights flashing at her. The driver had his head out the window, hurling curses, clearly furious.
She gasped, glanced around, and quickly crossed the street the moment she noticed the stares.
Breathing heavily, she tried to recall how she ended up there, but the rising murmur of voices around her broke her focus.
"Is she okay?" The whispers reached her ears as she lifted her head, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she met the eyes of several bystanders. They were all staring at her like she was insane, and honestly, she couldn’t blame them. She had just nearly been hit by a car.
Her gaze dropped to her hands. That’s when reality hit her again, she was still clutching the marriage certificate.
For a moment, she wished the car had hit her.
Just when it felt like her life was finally turning around, she was told she was married to a man she had never even seen before. The name printed on the document: Mr. Blackthorn. And there was only one Blackthorn in the entire city. A name most people avoided saying aloud. Some called him the usurper of Westview Medical Hospital while others called him the founder. No one really knew the full truth, but she didn’t care about his reputation.
All she has ever wanted was to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor and marry the man she loved.
She had already endured years of cruelty under her stepmother’s roof, only to be thrown into a worse nightmare.
How could she possibly be married to a man she had never met?
Her phone chimed from inside her bag. She fumbled for it and sighed as she read the message:
Zara: Where the hell are you? Pick up your phone and talk to me! It’s just a fake marriage certificate, we can get another one!
The message was from her best friend, Zara, who was bold, fearless, and everything she wasn’t. But how was she supposed to explain to Zara that the certificate wasn’t fake? The registrar said she couldn’t apply for a new marriage certificate unless she got a divorce.
Just then, her phone rang, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was.
The man she was supposed to be married to by now.
She had begged him for a quiet wedding without her family present. He agreed to a simple registry ceremony. But at the registry, she was told she is already married to a stranger. How sad can life get?
Another message flashed on her screen.
Fiancé: I just arrived, and my calls are strangely being declined. Call me once you are free. I love you.
Her heart sank when she read the last three words. How was she supposed to explain to her fiancé that she was already married?
She suspected it had something to do with her stepmother, who had always been hell-bent on ruining her life. But the photograph on the marriage certificate confused her as it was from her childhood. She had only moved in with her biological father fifteen years ago. Her stepmother couldn’t possibly have access to such an old picture.
Even more puzzling was the fact that the image of her supposed husband was also from his childhood. That could only mean he, too, might be unaware of the marriage. It had to be something orchestrated by her stepmother. But Lisa, her manipulative stepmother would never pair her up with someone as seemingly perfect as Mr. Blackthorn. Why would she do that?
Suddenly, her eyes widened as she recalled what the staff at the registry had said: the issue could only be resolved through divorce.
All she needed to do was find Mr. Blackthorn and get him to sign a divorce for a marriage neither of them had agreed to. And as fate would have it, she had just been hired at Westview Medical Hospital, where Mr. Blackthorn happened to be the CEO.
Maybe all hope wasn’t lost after all.
A small smile crept onto her lips as she took a deep breath, a flicker of hope rising inside her. She would play it cool, get Mr. Blackthorn to sign the papers, and make sure her fiancé never found out. There was no way she was going to spend another five years in that house, waiting to meet someone new.
If she told her fiancé the truth, he might not believe her innocence and that could end their engagement. No, she wouldn’t let her stepmother sabotage her happiness again. She was done being the obedient girl, done enduring years of torment.
She hailed a cab, gave the driver her family’s address, and sat quietly as the streets blurred past.
Minutes later, she arrived at the house but stood outside the gate for a moment, hesitant. It had always been since moving in with them, dreading the moment she stepped inside because she knew what awaited her.
Even her real mother treated her like an outsider, allowing her stepmother to torment her without protest. Not once did that house ever feel like home. And she couldn’t leave either, her old woman threatened to disown her, and she still needed the family name to marry her fiancé.
If not for that, she would have disowned herself long ago.
She took a deep breath, walked up to the gate, and rang the bell twice. A moment later, the door swung open.
She stepped into the compound and made her way toward the dining hall, where everyone was already seated.