"Reina, you're back. I made your favorite roasted ribs. Wash your hands and come to have some."

When Reina Blake's mother, Amy Penn's loving, caring voice rang out, she looked aside at Ernest Roland, her stepfather, with a strange feeling deep down.

In order not to upset Ernest, Reina's stepfather, and Lizeth Roland, Ernest's daughter, Amy was always cold and strict to Reina when Ernest was around. Amy in fact treated maids better than Reina.

Reina wondered why Amy was acting so weird today.

In fact, after so many years, Reina had gotten used to Amy's attitude toward her. It was Amy's second marriage, and she married Ernest with Reina, who was seen as a burden, no less. Life after marrying into the Roland family for Amy wasn't easy. Ernest was a very cold and selfish man, and he had become even colder to Amy after his business thrived these years.

"Mom," Reina called out softly.

There was a flicker of unease in Amy's eyes, but Reina didn't see it.

Amy's sudden kindness made Reina have the urge to cry. She walked to the bathroom, washed her hands, and went into the dining room.

Amy and Ernest were already seated.

"Won't we wait for Lizeth?" Lizeth was Reina's stepsister.

"No. Let's eat," Amy said and then lowered her head to eat.

Reina had had the feeling that Amy was very strange today. Sure enough, after she had a few bites, Amy opened her mouth again.

"Reina, your father's company has been having a financial crisis, and he would like your help."

Reina frowned and looked at Amy. "How am I supposed to help?"

"Do you remember Mr. Dewar? Gilbert Dewar, the man who came to your father's birthday party this year. He is deeply attracted to you. He says that as long as you marry him, the two families will be in-laws, and he will help our family through the financial crisis..."

Amy's voice was getting lower and lower.

Meanwhile, Reina's face was getting paler and paler.

The ribs made by Amy were always delicious, yet Reina felt that the rib that was in her mouth was bitter.

Of course, she remembered Gilbert.

It was a middle-aged man in his early fifties who was chubby with squinted eyes. Everyone could tell that he was a nasty man indulging his own sexual proclivities. When Ernest introduced him at the party that night, he held Reina's hand and wouldn't let go. She was so angry that she washed her hands a dozen times that night.

And now, Amy wanted her to marry Gilbert.

"He is in his fifties and is old enough to be my father."

"Older men are better at doting on their wives. Besides, Mr. Dewar has no children. If you can get him a son after you marry him, I'm sure the Dewar family will be yours," Ernest said with a smile.

Reina thought, "If he is that good, why don't you ask Lizeth to marry him?"

Reina sneered silently. Instead of looking at Ernest, she looked at Amy. "Mom, is that what you think as well?"

"Reina, Mr. Dewar says that he will treat you right..." Amy said. Although she felt that it was unfair to Reina, she had always been obedient to Ernest. Therefore, she persuaded Reina, "If it weren't for Ernest, you and I would have no one to lean on, and we wouldn't have had such a carefree life. Now that the Roland family is in trouble, we have to help him."

Reina thought, "A carefree life?

"I would have been better off if Mom hadn't married Ernest.

"When Dad died, he left us tens of thousands of dollars in savings and two houses. Mom married into the Roland family, gave all our savings to the Roland family, and sold a big house to help Ernest with his business.

"Among all these years of my life at the Roland's place, I have to suffer with poor food and clothing, and I always have to put up with Ernest's disgusted look and Lizeth's bullying.

"And now, they are so over the line that they want to ruin my lifelong happiness?"

Angrily, Reina stood up and looked Ernest and Amy in the eye. "I won't marry him. Go ask Lizeth to marry him. She is the daughter of the Roland family!"

"You have no choice!" Ernest said furiously. "Lock her up. I've discussed with Mr. Dewar already. I will take her ID card to get her marriage certificate with Mr. Dewar tomorrow, and then I'll send both her and the marriage certificate to the Dewar's place."

After he finished speaking, three servants rushed at Reina at the same time, grabbed her, and locked her in the room.

Reina thought, "Do you really think you can lock me up by this?"

She looked at the locked door and bit her lip. She found a small screwdriver from the toolbox under the bed, removed the window cover, jumped out, took her ID card, and headed to the café to find Victor Webster, her boyfriend.

She had to get married before being forced to marry Gilbert by Ernest.

She figured that everything would be solved as long as she married Victor.

She looked through the glass and saw Victor, who had already arrived. There was at last a smile on her pure, pretty face.

She walked toward him quickly.

Although she and Victor had only been going out for half a year, they were in a very stable relationship.

Proposing to him might seem abrupt, yet her hands were tied.

"Victor, I have something to say to you." The nineteen-year-old girl wanted to act calm, yet after all, she was proposing to her boyfriend, which was a big deal. She couldn't help but blush a bit uncontrollably.

As she was nervous, she missed the solemn look on Victor's face.

"Reina, I have something to say to you too."

"What? OK. You first."

"Reina, I'm getting engaged to Chloe." Victor's words made Reina's mind blank.

She stared at him without moving, forgetting to react.

A second ago, she was thinking of asking him to marry her.

She simply felt glad that she didn't propose out loud, or she would have humiliated herself."

"I'm sorry, Reina. My family arranged the marriage for me a long time ago. There's a lot of competition in our family, and if I don't marry Chloe, I'll be out of the line of succession. Reina, believe me. The only woman I love is you. Wait for me, and I swear I'll marry you after five years when I have real power."

Although Victor apologized, he didn't seem very guilty.

"Are you done? What a coincidence. I came to you today to break up with you!" Reina looked at him and tried to force a proud smile.

She was betrayed one after another, which caught her off guard, yet she wouldn't allow herself to look like a loser.

She was glad that she didn't love Victor that much.

Victor's natural sense of superiority made him unable to accept that Reina would offer to break up with him, and his face darkened. "Do you have to be this stubborn, Reina? Think about who you are. Who are you to marry into the Webster family? I promise that I will marry you one day, which is the best thing that you can ever expect. Think about it!"

Once again, Reina realized how cheeky one could be. "Victor, I've seen jerks before, yet you are the biggest, cheekiest jerk I've met. Do you think you're Prince Charming that everyone wants?"

"You just don't know what's good for you, right, Reina?" Victor growled through gritted teeth.

A trace of sadness flashed across Reina's eyes.

Today was such a bad day for her, as she was betrayed by her mother and her boyfriend.

She took a deep breath and stared at him coldly. "Victor, you're too much of a jerk that I can handle."

She stood up and picked up the coffee the waiter had just brought her.

Victor's expression changed, as he thought she was going to throw the coffee in his face.

She looked at him and suddenly was amused.

So, she smiled sarcastically, "Rest assured. It'll be such a waste throwing such great coffee on you."

Then she took a few sips of the coffee, took out her purse, paid for her cup of coffee, and turned to walk away.

***

Around the corner, Hugh Walton curled up his thin lips. He said, his clear voice carrying a teasing smile, "She seems cuter now than she was twelve years ago."

Arturo Finn, his assistant, followed his gaze, and then there was an awkward expression on Arturo's face. He thought, "Cute? Really?"

Hugh ignored Arturo's expression and said casually, "Come to think of it, I'm of marriageable age, too."

Arturo was stunned.

He thought, "What's going on?

"Mr. Walton, you change the subject too quickly... Don't you think?"

An hour later, Reina walked into one of the city's largest matchmaking agencies.

"I'm looking for a husband. He has to be between 20 and 30 years old with good looks and good conduct. He must have no bad habits. It's fine if he's poor without money, cars, or properties. As long as he can go get the marriage certificate with me now..."

Before she finished speaking, the staff who was answering the phone had already put the phone down. The staff glanced at Reina's name on her profile and then took her hand with great enthusiasm. "Ms. Blake, right? Have you got your ID card?"

Reina was stunned. "Yes..."

"Great. We have just the right guy for you. His name is Hugh Walton, and he's eager to get a marriage certificate as well. He's right outside the door. I'll take you there!"

Therefore, Reina was speed-dated in 30 seconds and enthusiastically stuffed into a car by the staff.

A pleasant, deep male voice sounded beside her.

"Hi. I'm Hugh Walton."

He was wearing a dark blue shirt, looking clean and fresh, with a noble and dignified temperament.

He put his hands gently on his legs. His black trousers made his fingers look unusually slender, fair, and bony.

His features were so stunning that they seemed to have been favored and carved by fate.

He had a prominent nose, and he was now looking at her with a smile, curling up the corners of his thin lips.

His deep eyes were so bright that it was like they were filled with stars in the sky, and others simply couldn't look away.

He was handsome.

He was so handsome that Reina couldn't help but stutter, "Hello... I ... I'm Reina Blake."

She thought, "I have trouble breathing, as he is so good-looking.

"Are all the matchmaking agencies this good these days?

"In fact, I had prepared myself for the worst before I came here. I could live with anyone who wasn't completely nasty.

"How can this man be so handsome?

"He's too handsome to be true. Am I in a dream?"

"Shall we go and get the certificate?" Hugh looked at Reina, who was adorable because of obvious nervousness, and smiled gently.

"OK. Sure. But you don't know me. Are you sure it's OK?" In fact, she thought that marrying her would be a great loss for him.

So, she reminded him kindly.

"I'm glad a pretty girl like you is willing to marry me. After all, as a man, regarding this aspect..." Hugh paused and looked at his legs.

He wanted to say that he couldn't walk, yet his words and seeing that he was looking at his thigh gave Reina the wrong idea. She thought he meant sexually and said, "It's fine. I don't mind that. In fact, Platonic love is wonderful."

Hugh was surprised when hearing her words.

The smile in his eyes grew bigger.

He realized that she had gotten the wrong idea, as he never said that he wanted Platonic love. Yet he explained nothing.

He said slowly, "My legs were hurt, and I can't go anywhere without a wheelchair. Of course, the doctor said I might recover."

Reina looked at his legs.

As they were sitting in the car, she hadn't noticed it till now.

"Do you mind?" he asked, his voice gentle.

She thought, "Do I?

"Of course, I don't!

"Given my circumstances and the fact that I have to get married today, I cannot ask for more when I find a man like him.

"Besides, I always fall for pretty faces. If I get to live with him every day, I'll be in such a great mood."

Reina looked at Hugh's face, who was stunningly pretty, and shook her head firmly. "No."

Hugh smiled even more as he watched her determined expression. "You're a nice girl," he said.

She was stunned and figured that she should return the favor now that he was praising her.

Therefore, the cute Reina said, "You're a nice gentleman."

Arturo, who was driving, couldn't help but chuckle, causing even his shoulders to shudder a bit.

It was an hour later.

Reina and Hugh were standing at the entrance to City Hall, each holding a certificate.

Reina looked down at the stamped marriage certificate, feeling great as if she had gotten her revenge.

She had been a pushover for 11 years, and finally, she fought back today. She would love to see the look on Ernest, her dear stepfather's face when he saw the marriage certificate.

Everyone else thought that they had her in control and that she must not dare or be able to say no to them. Yet she was determined to tell them that she wasn't someone to be bullied.

Yet for now, she remembered that her "husband" was right next to her. Though it felt unreal, he was indeed her husband. "Are we ... married?"

Hugh looked up, and there was a smile on his handsome face. "Yes, honey."

His voice was deep, mellow, and textured. When he said the word "honey", he said it slowly and there seemed to be affection carried in his voice. Reina felt that her ears were burning after hearing his voice.

She finally looked like a shy nineteen-year-old girl. She forced an unnatural smile and stuttered, "Well..."

She found it hard to call him "hubby". Though Hugh was so handsome, and he had already conquered her with his pretty face, she couldn't really call a man she'd known for a few hours her hubby.

"I don't have a house here, so..." He wanted her to choose a neighborhood.

Reina interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, "It's fine. Both of us are young. As long as we work hard, we will have a big house to live in one day."

She thought, "He's so handsome. If it weren't for the fact that he has no house, no car, and is disabled, he certainly wouldn't need to go to a matchmaking agency.

"Given the critical situation, I'm more than happy to find a man in his condition.

"He is a man who is physically challenged, so I'm sure he has very low self-esteem. As a kind, pretty girl who adores pretty looks, I should try my best to be kind to him and try not to discourage him."

Hugh was speechless.

It was the fact that he didn't own a place in Hitherville. Because of the big economic case that year, everything in the Walton family was gone, yet that didn't mean that he couldn't afford a place now.

Seeing the strange expression on his face, Reina figured that he must have been rather inferior, so she quickly comforted him, "You know what? In fact, I hate rich people. I wouldn't have married you if you were with a luxury car and some fancy villa."

Her soothing words made the corners of Hugh's eyes twitch slightly.

He quietly took out his phone and texted Arturo, "No need to come over to pick me up."

Not far away, a black Maybach S62 parked quietly on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Arturo in the car was looking at Hugh's text with a puzzled face.

Then he received the second text from Hugh, saying, "Cancel the hotel reservation and book a medium-class hotel."

Soon, Hugh texted him again, "For now, I am a disabled person with no house, no car, and no money."

Arturo was shocked.

He thought, "Is Mr. Walton possessed?

"He got married in a flash. And I can live with that.

"Yet even animals know that when courting, they ought to show how perfect they are. Shouldn't Mr. Walton, as a higher animal, be driving a fancy car and taking Ms. Blake to buy the largest villa in the city at once?

"Also, I never figure out whether Mr. Walton falls in love with her at first sight or simply chooses to sacrifice himself so as to find out the truth back then."

***

After instructing Arturo, Hugh looked at Reina and said tenderly, "Then, honey, shall we go celebrate our marriage now?"

"Perhaps later. Let me think. Maybe we can have a place after all. My mom and I have a house left by my dad, and I'll go ask my friends whether I can find a good lawyer. In such a way, maybe I can get it back."

She didn't hold her hopes up, yet now that she had already had a complete fallout with Ernest, she decided to go for it after all. Let alone that she would have a place to live, at least she could hold on to some of the things left by her dad.

"A lawyer?" There was some change in Hugh's eyes, and he looked at her. "I do have a friend who is a lawyer. He is very skilled, and it is said that he has never lost a case."

"Really?" Reina's eyes lit up when she heard his words. She said excitedly, "Call your friend and ask for his help then. If I can get my house back, we'll have a place to live in!"

Seeing how thrilled she was, Hugh smiled.

After cutting Amy off a hundred times, Reina walked into the Roland's place briskly.

"Well? Has she picked up?"

"No."

"Damn girl! She doesn't know what's good for her at all! I'll teach her a great lesson when I see her!"

"How ungrateful. The Roland family has raised her for so long, and this is how she repays us? Can she really bear to see us go bankrupt?"

Reina heard their scolding as soon as she entered the door.

She sneered.

"Reina!" Lizeth was the first to see Reina enter. She immediately exclaimed in surprise, "You're back."

Lizeth thought, "Who knows? The bitch, Reina, actually comes back herself."

"You damn girl! You still remember you live here?" Ernest was always a tyrant at home. When he saw Reina come back, he began to scold her at once.

"Reina, how could you escape by climbing through the window?" Amy had a disapproving look on her face.

Both Amy and Ernest scolded Reina the second they saw her.

Reina thought, "I don't mind how Ernest treats me. Yet Amy is my mother!

"What kind of mothers push their daughters into an abyss?"

"Dad, Mom, Reina is back. Don't be mean to her. See? You're scaring her," Lizeth said, acting like a spoiled kid, and then walked to Reina. She said to Reina gently, "Reina, nice to see you back. We're glad you've thought it through. I haven't congratulated you on being about to marry into a rich family. I heard that Mr. Dewar is very rich. In fact, he might be richer than our family. Also, he is good at doting women."

As Lizeth looked at Reina's pretty, fair, and exquisite face without makeup, a trace of jealousy flashed across her eyes. Then she smiled even more tenderly. She thought, "So what if Reina is pretty? She ends up marrying Mr. Dewar, that old bastard anyway. I heard someone say that Mr. Dewar is a big fan of torturing pretty girls in bed.

"And as for me? As long as the Roland Group's business thrives, I can marry any young, promising man I want in the future."

As she spoke, she wanted to put her arms around Reina's, deliberately trying to make it look like they were close to each other.

Yet Reina, disgusted, dodged and looked at her coldly.

Reina thought, "Lizeth has always been a scheming phony. Even since I got to the Roland's place, I've been plotted against by her either directly or indirectly.

"Yet this time, they won't get their way."

Reina curled up her lips and smiled.

She was curious. Now that she wouldn't be able to marry Gilbert, would Ernest ask Lizeth, his precious daughter, to marry over for the sake of the company?

Ernest changed his expression and said soothingly and kindly, "Alright, Reina. The important thing is that you're back. The Roland family didn't raise you for nothing. Reina, get prepared to marry Mr. Dewar. I assure you that you'll have a great life after you marry into the Dewar family."

Reina calmly listened to them. After they finished, she slowly took out the marriage certificate and put it on the table.

She smiled, "I'm never as lucky as Lizeth, and this time is no exception. It's a shame that Mr. Dewar is so wealthy, as I'm married already. Lizeth can be the lucky woman."

Then she looked at the three and enjoyed their expressions.

Lizeth's eyes turned red with anger and fluster when she saw the marriage certificate. She grabbed it from the table and opened it at once. "What is this? A marriage certificate? Are you married? Who are you married to? It's not Victor, is it?"

She was relieved when she saw that the name on the marriage certificate wasn't Victor.

She was always jealous that Reina and Victor were dating. As far as she was concerned, an ordinary woman like Reina didn't deserve to be with Victor, who was handsome and came from a well-off family.

She was the one worth being together with Victor.

"Stop messing around and trying to fool us with a fake marriage certificate, Reina. How could you get one without your ID card?" Ernest did not look at the marriage certificate at all. There was a look of contempt in his eyes, and it seemed that he thought Reina was pulling child's tricks.

"So, it's fake. I was wondering how you could marry such a handsome man," Lizeth glanced at Hugh's photo on the certificate and sneered.

"You're young and naïve, Reina. Do you think marrying a good-looking young man means a happy life? You're wrong. Men should be judged by their capabilities. Mr. Dewar may be a bit old, yet old men are better at doting on women. Besides, he is rich..."

Ernest persuaded Reina when he saw five men in black suits walk in while surrounding a man in a wheelchair.

The man in the wheelchair was with a stunningly handsome face and an extraordinary temperament.

Reina turned around and saw Hugh. She walked toward him while saying deliberately coquettishly, "Hubby, you're here finally. My family doesn't believe me when I told them that I'm already married."