Unveiling Love: A Flash Marriage To A Secret Tycoon

In front of City Hall...

Elyse Warren walked out of the building with a marriage certificate in her hand.

Staring at it, she couldn't help but shake her head and let out a sigh. She felt like she was in a ridiculous dream. The marriage certificate in her hand meant that she was now married... to a stranger!

Suddenly, a man cleared his throat behind her and said, "Well, that's all we need to do for now. Go your way and never contact me again. Once a year has elapsed, we'll get a divorce and label lack of affection as the reason."

The man's voice was deep and firm, yet it was also icy and dismissive, which made him sound like an unpleasant person.

Elyse turned around to look at the man, whose name was Adrian Lambert, and said with an equally icy voice, "You don't have to tell me what to do. Rest assured, you'll never hear from me until it's time to get the divorce. In case you've forgotten, I'm in this situation because of the same reason as you, which is to satisfy the wishes of our families."

"That's wonderful to hear," Adrian muttered and took out a cigarette box, retrieved a stick, lit it, and began to smoke. As the smoke from the cigarette blurred his handsome face, his furrowed eyebrows appeared in and out of the haze.

He was in this mess thanks to his grandfather. If it weren't for him, Adrian would have chosen to never have anything to do with marriage, especially not with a woman he had never met.

This marriage was a result of a pact made between his grandfather and Elyse's grandmother.

From what he learned, Elyse's grandmother had saved his grandfather's life years ago. And since his grandfather went on to become the architect of the Lambert family's success, Elyse's grandmother was seen as the indirect cause of the family's prosperity. As a token of gratitude, his grandfather had seen to it that he and Elyse were betrothed to each other when they were still children.

Now that both Elyse's grandmother and his grandfather were old, they suddenly became particular about seeing their young ones get together before their time on Earth ran out. In that spirit, they had gone to great lengths to make this absurdity a reality.

Naturally, Adrian was a ruthless man who never bowed down to the will of others.

But his grandfather was an exception. He was loyal and respectful to the old man.

Though he wanted nothing more than to have absolutely nothing to do with Elyse, he couldn't bring himself to go foul of his grandfather's wish. So, he had no choice but to obtain the marriage certificate with Elyse.

"Smokers are liable to die young. I'll advise you to smoke less," Elyse suddenly said coldly. She glanced at her watch and continued, "I'm running late. I have to go and set up my stall at the market today. I will be on my way now."

Hearing this, Adrian shrugged indifferently and waved her away. But as Elyse began to walk off, he glanced at the cigarette in his hand, dropped it on the ground, and stamped it out.

At that moment, a Rolls-Royce drove into the city hall premises and pulled up in front of Adrian.

Adrian's secretary, Grayson Briggs, got out of the car, walked up to Adrian, and said respectfully, "Mr. Lambert, can I take you back to the company now?"

Adrian nodded and walked up to the passenger door, but just as he was about to get in, he paused for a moment, glanced at the marriage certificate in his hand, and then tossed it to Grayson. "Get it to my grandfather."

Grayson caught the certificate and looked at it. Seeing what it was, his eyes instantly widened in surprise.

Adrian was now a married man?!

What on earth was going on?

How could a man like Adrian, who was frigid towards women, get married out of the blue? Was this some sort of sick joke or what?

"You've got a problem?" Adrian asked irritatedly as he noticed Grayson's stupefied countenance.

Grayson snapped back to reality and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll see to it that Mr. Lambert gets it before the day is over."

However, before Grayson got into the driver's seat, he glanced at the marriage certificate in his hand again, confirming what he had seen. Indeed, Adrian Lambert, the heir of the Lambert family, the most prestigious family in Liverton, had just got married!

As they drove away, Adrian let out a sigh and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe he was now a married man!

At that moment, a call came in from his grandfather, Vince Lambert.

Adrian sighed again and picked up the call. Immediately, Vince's voice came from the other end, asking, "Adrian, were you and Elyse able to get the marriage certificate?"

Adrian frowned slightly and replied through gritted teeth, "Yes, we're now married. Grayson will get the certificate to you before the day is over."

"Get it to me? What should I do with it? It's your property, not mine, keep it well. And remember, Elyse is now your responsibility. Treat her well and protect her from all harm," Vince said firmly.

"I'll do exactly just that," Adrian replied lazily. He was yet to know if Elyse was really going to agree to the divorce a year from now or prove stubborn. To further make him appear unappealing to her, Adrian had dressed up as an ordinary white-collar worker and presented himself as such.

He was afraid that if this strange woman that his grandfather had hooked him up with were to find out that he was the head of the Lambert family, she was going to refuse to let him go once a year was up.

"Adrian! Don't forget that I'm expecting a chubby baby from you, someone to carry on our family name. I expect you and your wife to get to work as soon as possible," Vince said.

Adrian opened his mouth to say something, but not a single word came out. He was just simply speechless.

"And you guys should be expecting me soon. I'll drop by for a visit in a few days."

Hearing this, Adrian sat up abruptly and said, "Hey! There's no need for that, Grandpa! We just got married! We could use some time alone."

Vince scoffed and asked, "Says who? Are you trying to forbid me from seeing my granddaughter-in-law? I'm coming over whether you like it or not." Before Adrian could argue any further, Vince abruptly hung up the call.

Adrian gritted his teeth in anger and rubbed his temples in an attempt to calm himself down. He had to establish some sort of relationship with 'his wife' now.

"Turn around now," he ordered Grayson.

"Huh?" Grayson raised an eyebrow and glanced at the rearview mirror.

"Don't expect me to repeat myself," Adrian replied coldly. The chilling words caused Grayson to shiver, prompting him to swiftly turn the steering wheel and execute a U-turn.

He couldn't fathom why Adrian had become so angry all of a sudden.

After she left the city hall, Elyse went directly to the supermarket to get some groceries.

As she went about her business, she had no idea that Adrian, who she believed to have gone his way, had trailed her and was now watching her.

He stood in a corner not far away from where Elyse was, observing her as she meticulously selected ingredients that she wanted to buy. Unconsciously, his lips subtly curved into a smile.

To him, every single woman in the world was simply a greedy and cunning individual who would go to great lengths to get her hands on money and be associated with power. After all, every single woman he had met, even married ones, had always tried to get closer to him because of his wealth and power.

However, as he observed Elyse, he concluded that she was no such woman. She was so focused on what she was doing. No other woman could do so without getting tired.

And for her to be so seamlessly hardworking, that could only mean that this was her daily routine.

A hardworking woman wasn't someone Adrian thought he would come across in his life, not to talk of one who worked hard daily.

Upon seeing the slight smile on Adrian's lips, Grayson, who was standing nearby, raised his eyebrows in surprise and glanced at Elyse.

He had known Adrian for a long time and he had never, not even for once, seen the latter smile like this. The Adrian he knew always had a cold look on his face regardless of the environment he was in.

But...

"Excuse me, Mr. Lambert, but for how long do you intend on following her? In about thirty minutes, Mr. Moss will arrive at the company for the meeting. We must head back now if we want to make it to the meeting in time," Grayson said nervously as he glanced around at the passing crowd, who were periodically glancing at them with curiosity-filled eyes.

Though the fact that he and Adrian were dressed in suits already made them stand out, Adrian's aura was clearly what was attracting most of the attention that they were getting.

"I'm busy right now. Return to the company and talk with Mr. Moss on my behalf," Adrian replied casually without taking his eyes off Elyse.

Hearing this, Grayson became speechless. Adrian was a career-oriented man whose work was at the forefront of his life. And now, all because of a woman, he was casually dismissing work?

Grayson couldn't help but take a long look at Elyse, wondering what sort of charm this strange woman had used on Adrian to make him regard her in such an important way.

Sure, she was beautiful and had a good figure, but then, Adrian had come across numerous other women who were even more beautiful and gracefully built, yet they hadn't been able to make Adrian pay them a fraction of the attention he was giving this strange woman.

Unable to make sense of what was going on with Adrian, Grayson sighed and left.

A little while later, Elyse left the supermarket with all that she had bought and made it to the market in the nick of time. Without taking a moment to rest, she began to set up her stall.

Adrian, having followed her all the way to the market, noticed that though she had no helper, she was able to get her stall in order in record time. This made him even admire her more than he already did.

With everything she did, she showed that she was nothing short of exceptional and was unlike the women he knew.

When he felt the time was right, Adrian decided to walk up to Elyse's stall. However, before he could get to her, another man walked up to the stall.

"Excuse me, Miss, I'll have a hamburger and crepe, please," the man said.

"Of course, sir. It will be ready in a moment," Elyse replied with a smile.

She had begun to sweat due to how busy she had been all day. She took in a deep breath and quickly began to put the man's order together.

As the steam from her cooking blew across her face, it gave her an angel-like appearance, causing her to look even more beautiful than she already was. Some passersby couldn't help but stop walking and admire her.

"Here you go, sir, your hamburger and crepe are ready," Elyse said as she passed the food to the man.

The man smiled at her as he received the food from her hand. But before Elyse could withdraw her hand, he reached out and held her with his free hand. "Do you mind giving me your WhatsApp number, Miss?" he asked with a smile.

Elyse didn't like the fact that the man was holding her hand but kept the smile on her face nonetheless. "I'm so sorry, sir, but I don't give strangers my WhatsApp number."

"Well, I'm not a stranger, Miss. I just bought a dish worth 30 bucks from you. Shouldn't that qualify me as your friend? Or do I need to order more than that before you can give me the number?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow.

Frustrated, Elyse finally frowned, pulled her hand away from the man's grasp, and said, "Sir, if you are here to indulge me in your shenanigans, I'll suggest that you drop the food and step aside so that those that are here to eat can get what they want."

Hearing this, the man frowned and said through gritted teeth, "Wow, you are more arrogant than I thought you'd be. Seems you've forgotten that you are just an ordinary snack vendor. You should count yourself lucky that I even patronized you..."

"Just shut up and get your ass out of here! I have no desire to have someone like you as my customer!" Elyse said furiously. She could no longer stand the nuisance that was in front of her.

Sure, this wasn't the first time that she was harassed by a customer, but others tended to leave her alone after she made it clear to them that she wasn't interested in them. On the other hand, this man today was unrelenting and just plain annoying.

Seeing what was going on, some people stepped forward to intervene but backtracked when they saw who the man was. He wasn't someone anyone wanted to confront.

The man was a well-known and extremely arrogant ruffian who lived not far from the market.

"You can get mad all you want, I don't care. I'll get your WhatsApp number today whether you like it or not!" With that, the ruffian tried to grab Elyse's phone, which she had placed on her stall table.

But just as his hand was about to touch the phone, a sizable hand emerged from behind and clasped his own.

Stunned, the ruffian said, "Who the hell is this? Let go of my hand this..." The ruffian had turned around to confront who dared interfere in his business when he met Adrian's icy eyes.

He stopped talking immediately and his blood ran cold. For the first time in a long time, he was scared.

Those eyes made his hardened heart lose control, causing it to beat widely, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

Elyse was quite surprised that there was someone brave enough to stand up to this ruffian. She looked at the newcomer and narrowed her eyes in confusion. She felt certain that she had seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember where.

"Aren't you going to keep on yelling?" Adrian asked the ruffian with a voice so icy, that the nearby bystanders took a few steps back in fear. Raising an eyebrow and smiling wickedly, Adrian continued, "Or have you lost your voice?"

Summoning the little courage he had left, the ruffian swallowed hard and said lowly, "You are interfering with a private discussion that I'm having with my crush. Why don't you back off before I make you to?"

Hearing this, Adrian narrowed his eyes and said murderously, "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that the woman you are referring to as 'your crush' is actually my wife."

The ruffian widened his eyes and murmured, "What the hell are..."

Bang!

Before the ruffian could finish his words, Adrian kicked him so hard, he sent him flying backwards.

Seeing this, those who were close to Adrian moved away from him, afraid that they might find themselves in his firing line.

They had finally realized that underneath Adrian's handsome face, was a ruthless man who didn't tolerate nonsense.

The ruffian scrambled from the floor and was about to run toward Adrian and attack him when a single glance from Adrian turned his legs to jelly.

"Disappear from here this instance!" Adrian said coldly.

Immediately, the ruffian turned around and sped away without even looking back for once.

As he stared at the ruffian running away, Adrian couldn't help but scoff and shake his head in disgust. Sure, his marriage to Elyse was basically contractual and they were bound to get a divorce in a year. But then, that didn't change the fact that she was now his responsibility. An insult to her was an insult to him.

As head of the Lambert family, being insulted by anyone, not to talk of a mere ruffian, was simply unacceptable!

That ruffian ought to count himself lucky that Adrian didn't cripple him.

Elyse, lost in a daze, couldn't believe her ears when he claimed her as his wife.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Adrian asked slowly and waved his hand in front of Elyse's eyes.

Elyse blinked twice and came back to her senses. She looked up at the man in front of her and realized that he was indeed the same person that she'd met at the city hall earlier today and gotten a marriage certificate with. "So, it's you?" Elyse asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hearing this, Adrian raised his eyebrows in surprise. Was this woman just recognizing who he was?

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already. I mean, we just got our marriage certificate today!"

Elyse shrugged and then frowned as she suddenly noticed something. She looked at Adrian sharply and said, "Wait a minute, how on earth were you able to locate this place? I thought we agreed to have nothing to do with each other! What on earth are you looking for here?"

She had believed that the next time she saw Adrian again, it would be to carry out the divorce.

"Trust me, I'm not here because I wish to be here," Adrian said and took out a cigarette from his cigarette box. But just as he lit it and was about to take a puff, Elyse snatched it from his fingers.

Adrian stared at her for a moment, and then slowly asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"The smell of a lit cigarette irritates me," Elyse said casually and put the cigarette out.

Adrian scoffed and stared at the cigarette box in his hand. He contemplated taking out another stick but then decided against it. If he wanted Elyse to agree to what he was about to request of her, it would be better for him not to antagonize her.

"Well, I'm listening, what exactly are you here for?" Elyse asked.

Adrian let out a sigh and said, "We..."

"Officer, there he is! He's still around!" someone suddenly yelled, cutting off Adrian's words.

Annoyed, Adrian turned around and, to his amazement, saw the ruffian approaching him flanked by several policemen.

Seeing this scene, Elyse muttered a curse under her breath and began to panic. Though the ruffian might be seen as the instigator of today's trouble since he had been harassing her, Adrian would be the one to get into trouble since he had hit the ruffian.

Adrian glanced at her and, noticing her fear, smiled mischievously at her and said softly, "Fear not, okay? This is a lawful society. The police will see that he's the one at fault."

Stunned by the confidence that Adrian was exuding, Elyse simply nodded. At that moment, the police, along with the ruffian, walked up to the duo.

"That's him, Officer Spencer. All I came here to do was get some food for myself, then out of nowhere, this hooligan attacked me! Arrest him and put him behind bars!" the ruffian yelled as he pointed at Adrian with an accusing finger.

A new passerby would never have guessed that he had just harassed the woman behind the man he was yelling at.

Walking up to Adrian, the ruffian sneered at him and said through gritted teeth, "Weren't you so sure of yourself when you hit me a while ago? Come on, hit me again, you little..."

The ruffian was suddenly cut off as Adrian raised his hand and landed a heavy slap on his face.

Stunned, the ruffian staggered backward in shock. This man actually had the audacity to hit him in front of the police!

Elyse was also shocked by what Adrian had just done. Did he really think that he'd get himself out of this situation with violence? Had he no idea the gravity of what he had just done? How naive could he be to assault someone in front of the police?

Bang!

The ruffian stumbled and fell to the floor heavily.

"Officer Spencer, he's done it again, and this time in front of you! Seize him now!" the ruffian rambled as he clutched his cheek in pain. He tried to stand up but fell back again. He turned to face Officer Spencer and wailed, "Oh, officer, I must be compensated for this! Justice must be served..."

Officer Spencer couldn't believe what had just played out in front of him.

In all his years of service as a police officer, he had never come across a civilian who dared act out of line in front of him.

"How dare..." Just as Officer Spencer opened his mouth to tongue-lash Adrian, he got a clearer view of Adrian's face and his blood ran cold with fear.

The man in front of him was none other than Adrian Lambert, the head of the Lambert family!

At once, Officer Spencer softened his eyes and said with a smile, "What a pleasant surprise, Mr. Lambert. It's so good to see you again."

The moment the name "Mr. Lambert" left Officer Spencer's lips, both Adrian's and Elyse's expressions changed instantly.