Chapter 1
Washington, D.C.
In a coffee shop, Vivienne Quinn sat down across from the man sheâd agreed to go on a blind date with. She was astonished to see him in person.
He was unexpectedly handsome. His facial features were impeccable, and even the way he sat exuded an air of regality.
This was Vivienneâs tenth blind date in the past three months. She didnât have any say in itâif she didnât go on the dates, her mother would go on a hunger strike and probably die of stubbornness.
The man in front of her now left all nine other men in the dust.
But that wasnât important. After that many blind dates, Vivienne was determined to get straight to the point. âWhen do you plan to get married?â
Sheâd thought about it before she arrived. If her dateâs conditions werenât too extreme, she would go straight to marriage, and skip the entire dating process. Besides, wasnât the dating part meant to lead to marriage, anyway?
Her mother was threatening suicide every three days. If Vivienne just got married, maybe sheâd finally be able to live in peace.
The man looked taken aback, but he smiled. âWeâve just met. Direct, arenât you?â
His smile was unusually bright, like the sun in March. Vivienne forced herself to keep a neutral expression. âI almost forgot to introduce myself. Iâm Vivienne.
âYou probably heard about my situation from the person who spoke to you on the dating website. Iâm 25 and a freelance worker, and I set up a stall at the night market selling jewelry pieces. I make about 50K a year, and I support both my mother and myself at home. Iâve dated several other men, but Iâm currently single and healthy, with no bad habits like smoking.â Then she added, âIâm looking to get married.â
Her mother had forced her to go on this blind date today, and her mother had also found this man on a dating website. Sheâd figured her mother had just set her up with another weird, unattractive man, or maybe some old guy with a beer belly and a bad attitude. There were a lot of unreliable dating sites, and Vivienne had seen enough to know that it was rare to meet a, well, normal man.
The man seemed to immediately understand Vivienneâs situation after she introduced herself. His lips curled into a smile, and his voice was warm and mellow. âSomeone else introduced you to me? You werenât worried that I was some kind of catfish?â
âMarriage is a gamble.â Vivienne pursed her lips. âThis is my tenth blind date. I heard youâre a local who works the Skyreach Group, and your parents passed away. Youâre honest, down-to-earth, hardworking, eager to get married⊠Your last name is SmithâŠ?â
Smith⊠Vivienne had forgotten the rest. She hadnât paid much attention to what her mother had been saying about the man before she left.
âDamien Smyth, with a Y,â the man smiled again. âYes, I work here in Washington, D.C. Iâm renting a house, and I drive a Chevrolet. Iâve got a stable income, and Iâm also currently single and healthy, with no bad habits.â
Vivienne took out her birth certificate and glanced at Damien. âMr. Smyth, would you like to come to City Hall with me to get a marriage license? I donât need any of your money to support myself, so thereâs no need for a joint account, or a dowry and wedding. Letâs just keep it simple and get the license.â
Well, the first thing she needed to do was get her mother out of the picture. After that, she could take everything else one step at a time, depending on how well things went.
Most of her friends were already dating or married, and most of them were happy in their relationships. None of it seemed too interesting.
Damien tapped his fingers on the back of his other hand, thoughtful. He thought about what Vivienne had said. Why was this woman, with all her financial considerations, so anxious to get married that she brought her own birth certificate to a blind date?
He was turning 30 this year, and his own family was pressing him to get married.
âDo you mind that I donât own a house? You may be getting more than you asked for if you marry me.â
âI donât own a house either,â Vivienne said. âWithout parents to help out financially, itâs rare for people to buy their own houses by the age of 30. I understand it. As long as youâre a hard worker with character, nothingâs impossible.â
She was well aware of the housing prices in D.C. Being an ordinary girl with no impressive background or skills of her own, she doubted she could expect too much of her partner.
She kept staring at him. After a long moment, Damien picked up his phone and made a call. âSend my identity documents to City Hall for me.â
An hour later, Vivienne and Damien walked out of City Hall, looking down at the marriage certificate in their hands. Vivienne suddenly realized how crazy she was to have done this.
Sheâd just married a man an hour after meeting him for the first time.
Damien saw her expression out of the corner of his eye, and the corners of his mouth tilted up. âBit too late to change your mind.â
Vivienne tucked the certificate away and shook her head firmly. âNo regrets, Mr. Smyth. Iâm going to work now, and you should too.â
Just like that, we got married, and weâre already splitting up?
Did this woman really come here just to get the wedding certificate and go? Were they just going their separate ways now?
Chapter 2
As Vivienne hurriedly turned to leave, Damien spoke up. âYou never gave me your number. How can I contact you later?â
Embarrassed, Vivienne pulled out her phone, and the two of them added each other on Whatsapp. Damien sent her his phone number.
âCall me if you need anything.â
This was Damienâs personal number. Vivienne glanced at his phone out of the corner of her eye, noticing that heâd changed her contact name to âWife.â
âOkay.â There was something strange about it all, she thought. She was a married woman now?
Sheâd thought about just leaving his contact information as his name, but after seeing the word wife, she hesitated. My Mr. Smyth, she typed in.
Damien was about to say heâd walk her back when his phone suddenly rang. The words died on his lips, and he instead said, âHave a safe trip.â
Vivienne nodded and hailed a cab by the side of the road to leave, and Damien watched her go.
Not long after, a Rolls Royce stopped beside him and the man in it rolled down the window.
âI thought you were waiting for me at the cafe. What are you doing here at City Hall?â
The man whoâd spoken was the second heir of Skyreach Group, Grayson Smyth.
âJust getting a license.â Damien pulled open the door and got in, his voice low. âDrive me to the airport.â
Grayson started the car, but asked curiously, âWhat license are you talking about?â
âMarriage license.â
Grayson was so startled by Damienâs casual attitude that he stepped on the gas too soon, and when he realized what heâd done he slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding an accident.
âAre you serious? You donât even have a girlfriend. Mom introduced so many women to you, but you didnât like any of them, and she started to think you liked men.
âWell, our familyâs pretty open-minded. Mom will probably find some guys for you to choose from, and Iâll carry on the family nameââ
âThatâs enough. Iâm halving your paycheck for the rest of the year.â
âWhat?! Donât!â
âOnce you drop me off at the airport, you can help me buy a house. It doesnât need to be too bigâthree bedrooms and two bathrooms will do.â
âWhat are you buying such a small house for? Youâve got all those villas to your name already⊠Arenât those enough?â
Damien glanced away. Grayson shut up, but there was no way his brother was serious about the marriage certificate or the house. This had to be a joke. Or did Damien have a secret girlfriend he hadnât known about?
He couldnât have just found some random woman on the street to marry.
When Vivienne returned home, her mother picked up a feather duster and smacked her with it as soon as she opened the door. âVivienne, what have you done? I told you to go on that date. Did you lie to me? Whyââ
Before Mrs. Quinn could finish her sentence, Vivienne took out the marriage certificate.
âMom, I got married.â She opened the paper to show her mother. âYou can relax now.â
Mrs. Quinn looked it over, dumbfounded. She tossed away the feather duster and took the paper with trembling hands.
The man in the picture was certainly good-looking. She moved on to the name⊠Damien? Damien Smyth. She remembered the man on the dating site had spelled his last name as Smith, though. Why was it listed here as Smyth?
Could she have misread it?
Chapter 3
âVivienne, did you get a fake certificate to fool me?â Mrs. Quinn read and reread the paper, unconvinced that this was really authentic.
Vivienne pointed to the stamp. âMom, it came straight from City Hall. Itâs not fake.â
âWell, where is my son-in-law then? Why hasnât he come to see me?â Mrs. Quinn peered out the door and added, âI only asked you to go on the date and spend time with him. Whatâs all this for? Did you even get to know him?â
âI thought you asked all about him. He works for Skyreach, which is a good job⊠heâs about thirty, and heâs good=lookingâŠâ Vivienne thought back on the details of her brief time with Damien. âHe seems gentle enough. His parents died and he has no other immediate family members, soâŠâ
It was nice to not have to worry about a mother-in-law and sister-in-law, right?
Mrs. Quinn let the news digest slowly. Even as she looked down at the marriage certificate, she wasnât sure sheâd made the right choice by forcing her daughter to get married. She didnât understand that Vivienne had only rushed into this marriage to please her.
She had cancer, but sheâd kept that from Vivienne all this time. After her last relationship had fallen through, Vivienne had refused to go out with another man. Mrs. Quinn was worried that, when she died one day, Vivienne would be alone and have no one to take care of her, no one to help or hold her when things went wrong. That was why sheâd been forcing her to go on blind dates, to find a reliable man to settle down and start a family with.
Now that it was settled, though, it was useless to say anything else.
âVivienne, ask my son-in-law to come meet me here.â Mrs. Quinn sat down heavily. âI know you did this on your own, but he should still measure up to a motherâs standards.â
âOkay, Iâll ask him tomorrow if he can come have dinner here,â Vivienne said. âMom, I have to go out to the stall now. Itâs hot outside and you donât look too good, so stay home and rest.â
She repeated her instructions a few times more before packing her things and heading out. Sheâd set up a stall at the Eastern Night Market to sell handmade jewelry, small pieces that sheâd made herself.
Her stall was a second-hand van sheâd bought, and she set up regularly at 5 oâclock every day and closed at 11 oâclock sharp. When business was good, she would bring in about four thousand dollars a month. In Washington D.C., where every inch of land was worth like gold, this was more than enough for her to survive on.
Vivienne had studied jewelry design, but after an incident a few years ago, no jewelry company was willing to hire her now. So sheâd simply started her own business.
When she set up her stall for the night, the market was already bustling. She took a second to send Damien a text message. My mother wants to meet you. Are you free to have dinner tomorrow?
It went through, but there was no response. Business picked up shortly after, and Vivienne forgot all about it.
Tonight was a good night for business. She sold over three hundred dollars worth of jewelry and closed the stall at 11, as usual.
She was sitting in the back of the van counting the dayâs earnings when her phone buzzed.
Iâm sorry, Iâm going to NY for business. Iâll be back in a few days, and we can do dinner then.
Traveling for business was common in company work, Vivienne knew. Okay, she texted back.
She packed up and returned home. Nothing in her life had changed, except for her being officially married now.
Vivienne was extra busy over the next few days, going out early and coming home late, and she all but forgot that she had a husband. One night, she didnât close the stall down until midnight, and it had started to rain. When she got out, she realized the car had broken down in front of her house.
She would just repair it herself, she decided, climbing out with an umbrella to take a look. It wasnât the first time the van had had issues, and there were no major problems as far as she could tell.
There were, however, several minor issues. She couldnât afford to buy a new car, or even another used car, since that would cost over half a yearâs income for her. She would have to repair it and keep driving it.
After a preliminary inspection, Vivienne figured that sheâd have to send it to the shop again. She was disappointed to realize that it would cost a couple hundred dollars.
She wasnât far from her apartment, but the rain was getting heavier, and it was late at night. She left the car on the side of the road and opened the trunk, shielding her things with the umbrella.
Vivienne would have to move all the unsold jewelry back since some still needed to be processed, and some were from customers that had given her their pieces for repair. Sheâd have to put it all back in her house tonight.
The wind was strong, and holding an umbrella and a big box at the same time proved difficult. The rain had soaked her through already, and she knew she probably made an embarrassing sight.
Not far away, Damien watched this scene play out from inside his Rolls Royce, unbeknownst to her. He had just come back from New York.
Vivienne looked thin, about to be blown away by the wind and rain, but she stood firm even as Damien wondered if sheâd be overwhelmed by the weather. The wind did, though, take her umbrella, and she looked soaked all over. Still, she shielded her belongings with her body, keeping her head down as she headed toward the apartment building.
Touched, Damien took an umbrella and nodded to his driver. âGo back to the old house.â
Then he got out of the car and hurried to catch up with Vivienne.
Chapter 4
Vivienneâs hands were slipping down around the big box she was holding. Just as she was about to drop it, a pair of hands suddenly caught it and a mellow voice sounded overhead.
âIâll do it.â
Vivienne looked up, and the man in front of her placed the umbrella he was holding in her hand. He took the big box from her and carried it into the apartment lobby.
She came back to her senses a few seconds later and hurried to catch up, then gave the man back his umbrella.
Damien had already looked into Vivienneâs situation, so heâd found out where she lived. He carried the rest of her things to the unit she lived in and placed them at the door.
âThank you, sir. All my things wouldâve gotten damaged if it werenât for you. Do you want money? Or I can buy you a meal. I donât know how else to repay you.â
Vivienne was nearsighted and not the best with faces, and sheâd forgotten to wear her contact lenses today. Sheâd also lost her glasses in the rush to get her things out of the car, so she didnât recognize the man standing in front of her as her new husband.
Itâd essentially only been an hour since they last interacted. Theyâd sent no texts over the last few days.
She was truly grateful for this manâs help. She couldnât imagine how ruined the jewelry would be right now if it had fallen onto the ground and gotten wet.
Damien looked at Vivienne thoughtfully. âYou donât need to pay me or take me out for a meal. A drink upstairs would be nice, though.â
Immediately wary, Vivienne stared at him, her voice distant now. âI-I have a husband.â
Damien smiled and leaned closer. âIâm glad you havenât forgotten. But you should probably take a better look at me.â
Vivienneâs eyes widened in surprise as he came closer. âMr. Smyth⊠Uh⊠SmythâŠâ
She had forgotten his name. He looked helpless. âItâs Damien.â
Vivienne stepped back, flustered. âWhen did you get back?â
âJust now.â Damien stood up straight to explain. âI was busy, and I forgot to contact you.â
âItâs fine.â
He nodded. âAlright, then.â
That part didnât matter much. She wasnât used to being married, obviously, and sheâd forgotten about him.
Still embarrassed, Vivienne tried to explain herself. âI-Iâm not good with faces. Iâm nearsighted, and I left my glasses somewhere, and it was dark, and⊠Iâm sorry. I didnât mean to mistake you for someone else.â
Her clothes were soaked, and they clung to her skin, perfectly outlining her figure. Under the brighter lights in the lobby, Damien could see her delicate featuresâbright eyes, white teeth, and fair skin. She looked like a flower blooming.
Damien lifted an eyebrow and put his own coat around her shoulders. âGo get changed. You might catch a cold.â
Vivienne looked down, her cheeks flushed with shame.
âThank you.â Vivienne wished she could dig a hole and hide in it. âYouâre all wet, too. Do you want to come in and change?â
She regretted asking the minute the words came out of her mouth. Would Damien misunderstand, and think she was implying something else?
Damien stared at her with a half-smile, watching the subtle changes in her expression. This woman blushed so easily.
Vivienne was completely different from the celebrities and models he usually ran into. She reminded him of a little wildflower growing on a cliff, standing strong against the wind and rainânothing like those flowers growing in greenhouses. She had perseverance, but she had a girlish shyness about her, too.
After a long moment of Damienâs silence, Vivienne opened her mouth to add something else, but he finally spoke. âNo, itâs fine.â
Vivienne closed her mouth, embarrassed again at being rejected. Damien hurriedly amended, âItâs too late for this to be appropriate. I havenât met your parents, so I shouldnât be so casual. Iâll prepare a gift next time I come by.â
It was inappropriate of her to ask, she thought. The elevator opened behind her, and Damien helped her move the big box inside. âRest early and start packing.â
âWhat? Packing for what?â
Damien smiled at her blank look. âYou and I are a legal couple now. Donât you think you should move in with me?â
Sheâd forgotten about that, too. Married couples had to live together. She hadnât thought about that when theyâd gotten the marriage certificateâthat was all sheâd planned for, after all.
Would they be sleeping in the same bed? Vivienneâs face formed a thoughtful expression. It wasnât as if she could refuse Damienâs offer.
Sheâd been so happy to finally get a marriage certificate. Was she going to back out now?
âOkay.â
Chapter 5
When she got back up to her apartment, Mrs. Quinn had already gone to bed. Vivienne made sure her steps were light so she didnât wake her mother.
That night, she couldnât sleep. She tossed and turned until dawn.
Vivienne had a punctual biological clock, though. No matter how late she slept, she would wake up at 7 oâclock in the morning.
She made breakfast for her mother and left the house. The car needed to be taken to the shop for the night market later, and she would have to call her friend to ask for a ride while it was being repaired.
She waited outside the car shop until a red BMW pulled up about half an hour later, with her friend Lainey in the driverâs seat. She waved at Vivienne. âCâmon, get in.â
Vivienne smiled and got in, clicking the seatbelt into place. Lainey already knew where they were heading, and she pulled away from the curb and drove directly to the night market.
âYour crappy old vanâs long overdue for a replacement,â Lainey commented. âWhy are you fixing it again? Just take my advice and buy a new one.â
âEasy for you to say.â Vivienne laughed. âI donât have that kind of money. If I fix it up, itâll still work fine.â
She and Lainey had known each other since high school, and theyâd been friends for about ten years now. Lainey ran her own cosmetics store, and business there was good. She was living a good life, all things considered.
âVivienne, I hate seeing you work so hard with all this talent you have. Youâre wasting it on the night market, yâknow? You were at the top of our class, honestly. If it wasnât forâŠâ Lainey came back to her senses soon enough to cut herself off. She glanced at Vivienne, then smiled and changed the subject. âYouâre still young, but you hate everybody Iâve introduced you to! Do you want to be a nun soon? What about that guy Hendrix Tennyson⊠I heard he went back to China and started a law firm there. I hear heâs still single, so I can help you go after him if thatâs what you want.â
Vivienneâs heart throbbed at the name, some old memories resurfacing. She shook them away. âI know you want to help, Lainey, but thereâs really no need. I forgot about him a long time ago.â
Time healed all wounds, right?
âWhy donât you find a boyfriend yourself, then?â Lainey meant well, but she couldnât stop talking the second she opened her mouth. âI overheard my aunt saying you were introduced to several guys, but you didnât like any of themââ
Vivienne interrupted her softly. âLainey, Iâm married.â
âNothing wrong with that. Itâs a natural step in theââ Lainey turned suddenly to stare at Vivienne. âWhat did you just say? What? You donât even have a boyfriend, but youâ? Did you just pull a husband off the sidewalk?â
This was impossible. The sun might as well have risen in the west if Vivienne was married.
Amused, Vivienne said, âWell, it was a random guy, but my mom found him on a dating site. And yes, I married him.â
Lainey braked so hard that the car fully stopped at the side of the road. âJust like that, youâre married?â
She dragged Vivienne to a convenience store nearby to properly interrogate her and put her hands on her hips sternly. âDonât you dare lie to me, now. Tell me whatâs going on. Who is this guy?â
Vivienne didnât know whether to laugh or cry. âHis nameâs Damien. Heâs local, about 30⊠He works for Skyreach Group, and his parents arenât around.â
âDamien?â The name sounded familiar, but the Marlowes werenât high up enough in social tiers for Lainey to be sure where sheâd heard it. They werenât in the same circles, thoughâshe was sure of that.
She wasnât entirely wrong. As the president of Skyreach, Damien kept himself rather low-key, never accepting interviews or showing his face on TV.
Lainey didnât dwell too long on that.
âIâll bring him to meet you when I get a chance,â Vivienne offered.
âWell, obviously. He married my best friend, so Iâve got to see what heâs all about,â Lainey said. âBut, more importantly, does he have a house? How much does he make? Is he going to split it with you? Whenâs the wedding? Is there any sort of dowry?â
All of Laineyâs questions were practical and realistic, but there were just too many of them. Vivienne shook her head. âI didnât ask about his income, and I myself donât have a house or nice car. I can support myself, though, so I donât need any of his money.
âThe weddingâs just a formality. Itâs not necessary. We agreed to live together, and thatâs pretty much it. Weâll pay bills jointly if necessary.â
Lainey looked shocked. âYouâre out of your mind! You donât want anything out of this marriage? You donât even have a house. Youâre going to have to work so hard in the future! Youâll have your childrenâs education to think about⊠What will you do without a house and car? Joint finances⊠well, how far can that get you in this life?â