Chapter 1 A Quick Marriage

Stepping out of the city hall, Kaitlin Watson moved as if the world had shifted under her feet.

A few hours ago, she hadn't even known the man she just married.

While she was deep in thought, the man next to her spoke in a low, compelling voice. "I have an apartment downtown, a little over ninety square meters. If you'd like to move in, the door is always open for you."

He pressed a key into her hand.

For a second, Kaitlin hesitated and looked up at him.

He wore a crisp white shirt, a couple of buttons undone, and carried himself with an air of cool distance. His looks were almost distracting-handsome in a way that felt unreal.

On appearances alone, she couldn't help thinking she had gotten incredibly lucky.

Trying not to overthink things, she accepted the key. "Thanks. I know we're officially married now, but honestly, we barely know each other..."

She trailed off, hoping he'd pick up on her uncertainty about sleeping together right away.

Robert Bailey grasped the meaning behind her silence.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his expression relaxed. "Almost forgot to mention-work is about to send me overseas for a while. I have no idea when I'll be back."

There was an unspoken message in his words. Physical intimacy wasn't even on the table for now.

Kaitlin let out a slow breath, relieved things wouldn't be awkward between them. Before she could say a word, Robert held out a bank card to her. "The code is eight eights. My pay gets deposited there every month. If you need anything, just use it."

That caught Kaitlin off guard. "No, I can't accept this," she replied quickly. "I have a steady job, and I can handle my own expenses."

Instead of backing down, Robert pressed the card into her palm. "You're my wife now. It's my job to make sure you're taken care of."

Checking his watch, he seemed ready to dash off. "I've got a plane to catch. Get home safe, okay?"

As the warmth of the card spread through her palm, a tingling sensation ran through Kaitlin, and she paused for a moment before speaking again. "Alright, you take care as well."

Robert gave a quick nod and headed for a waiting cab.

Kaitlin watched the cab disappear down the street before tucking the card and key into her bag, not even noticing the fancy gold VIP lettering.

Her thoughts barely had a moment to settle before her phone started ringing.

The moment she picked up, her stepmother Lise Watson's sharp, commanding voice cut through. "Where on earth have you been, you useless troublemaker? Get back here right now, Mr. Singh has been waiting forever!"

The thought of Liam Singh, the greasy, bald man, made Kaitlin's skin crawl. She gripped her phone tight. "That's not happening. I'm never going to marry that man, so stop asking."

"Unbelievable! Do you really think you're some kind of catch?" Lise blurted out. "Landing Mr. Singh is the best thing that could happen to you, and you're acting picky? Listen, I've already taken his money. Like it or not, you're marrying him!"

Kaitlin drew in a breath, her resolve bolstered by what she'd just done. "It's too late, Lise. I just got married, not even an hour ago."

A stunned silence hung between them before Lise's voice came back, shriller and nastier than before. "You rotten little brat, how dare you-"

Kaitlin ended the call and blocked her number without a second thought.

Her mind drifted back to how all this had started. Her father's affair with Lise had wrecked their family. Years of misery pushed her mother over the edge, and she ended her own life by jumping off a building.

In the early days, Lise pretended to be the perfect stepmother whenever her father was around. That all changed when she gave birth to Zoe Watson and felt secure in her place. After that, she never missed a chance to make Kaitlin's life miserable.

Having survived so many of Lise's schemes, Kaitlin decided she would never let herself be used as a pawn. If she had to get married, she wanted it to be her own choice.

That was why, just a couple of hours earlier, she'd reached out to Robert on a dating app.

He was twenty-nine, worked as a programmer, and had no bad habits. He had a steady job, his own place, a car, and brought in a decent salary.

Everything lined up.

The biggest surprise was how quickly he said yes.

Thinking about how fast everything happened made her cheeks heat up.

But she knew there was no going back.

Watching her own family fall apart had erased any fairy-tale ideas she'd ever had about marriage.

And if this new start didn't work out, she could always walk away in a few years.