Chapter 1 We Are Married

On a late spring morning, the sunlight, soft and diffuse, gave way to the first strong rays of the day. Flowers were colouring the world for the warmer days to come, waving in the lazy breeze like a smile born of the cosmos-happiness in brilliant shades.

"Achoo --"

Essie Yi sneezed again. She was still in bed, draped in a heavy blanket. Just as she turned to her side she hit her face on something warm and was startled out of her sleep.

'How does the wall get here?'

Forcing her eyelids open, Essie sat bolt upright and whipped her head around in wide-eyed confusion.

After taking a moment to shed the sleep away from her eyes, she recognized the familiar floral curtains hanging at each side and the small oval table next to her bed.

It was her room. Yes!

Essie put her hand on her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was just a dream.

She closed her eyes and was just about to drift off again when a big hand reached out from behind and touched her back. The suddenness of the touch made her tremble like a dry leaf. As she turned her head around, there was the handsome face of a stranger sleeping next to her.

"Oh my God!" a panicked scream broke out from her lips, shaking the walls of the room.

'What is going on? Did this guy break into my apartment?'

The man lying next to her was startled out of his sleep by her screaming. He shot up from bed like a jack-in-the-box, momentarily shocked and disoriented. Then, suddenly, his expression froze, allowing an eerie chill to permeate the air.

Essie jumped into the corner of the bed and quickly wrapped herself up with the blanket. It was unnecessary, as it was obvious that the other party had seen her naked.

Suffice it to say, the man didn't seem very happy.

Essie grasped her aching forehead, desperately scrambling in her mind to make sense of everything, but her effort was all in vain.

The man looked at her with a hint of mockery in his eyes. He picked up the clothes scattered on the floor and put them on, before he walked to the window and stood with his back to her. "You should put your clothes on!" His tone was cold and full of disdain.

In a fluster, Essie snatched her clothes from the floor and put them on, while she looked around for a weapon to defend herself with. The man was at least 189 cm tall and strong looking. It became increasingly clear to Essie that she wasn't going to last in a fight with him.

She cast a glance at the night stand next to her, planning to use the alarm clock as a projectile weapon. However, the alarm clock was nowhere to be seen. The only visible objects were two red certificates on the night stand, on which was inscribed, "Marriage Certificate".

Startled, Essie grabbed the red folder and opened it. There were two names in it, Essie Yi and Zac Rong, accompanied by a double color photo of the couple. The groom on the picture was the very same man standing in front of her, and the bride was none other than herself.

They even looked like the perfect couple in the picture. Smiling and happy.

She looked at the registration date and found that it was yesterday's.

At that moment, Essie wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the ground to hide herself in, and never to come out of it again.

Where did this man come from? How did they get married?

Could he be an actor hired by some TV station?

With this thought in her mind, Essie charged at the man, thinking that this was all a part of some TV show and that this man was an actor hired to make fun of her on live television.

"Which TV station do you work for? I'll going to file a complaint to the police. Do you think this is funny? This is an invasion of my privacy and you're shooting this without my consent. This is illegal!" Essie threw the marriage certificates at the man and started to look for hidden cameras everywhere.

All the while, the man stood there, confused by her actions. He picked up the marriage certificate from the floor and glanced at it. Suddenly, his face expressed his inner feelings with a frown. "Damn it!" he cursed, trying to recall what had happened yesterday, but his memories seemed fragmented and unclear. The last thing he remembered was being in the bar.

By now, Essie had turned the entire room upside down, but there was still no camera. Infuriated, she rushed over to grab his collar. "Tell me where the cameras are, or I'll call the police!"

The man stared at her insidiously. After a while, a hint of shock flashed between his eyes and he said, "It's you!"