Chapter 1 Married in a Rush

The weather was hot and humid during August in the city of Rotterwand, and Celeste Kiss was filling up an application at the registration window of the city hall. Next to her stood an emotionless and stoic man who was exuding such an icy aura that it made him rather eye-catching. It was apparent enough that even the city hall staff couldn’t stop herself from stealing another look. “Julian…” The tip of Celeste’s pen stopped moving suddenly, and she turned to him. “What’s your name again?” The staff gasped in surprise. “Don’t you know each other?” The man then ignored the officer’s surprise and simply took the pen from Celeste, bent over, and wrote his name in the column—Julian Meister. After they went through all the necessary procedures, such as signing, taking pictures, confirming identities, and finally getting the certificate, they left the city hall together. Julian furrowed his eyebrows and said dispassionately, “I married you because of my grandfather, but why are you willing to marry me? What do you want?” “I want someone to be by my side when I’m old.” She didn’t see a need to hide her opinions, so she said, “Given my family situation, no one is willing to marry me and I might just end up alone for the rest of my life.” Such an honest answer was beyond his expectation, but he simply replied, “I’ll pick you up in the afternoon to visit Grandpa.” Then, he passed a key and access card to her. “Number 2801, building 88, Lilies Lakes. Move in with me as quickly as possible.” She watched the movement of his lips as he spoke and noticed that there wasn’t a trace of emotion in his words. Right after she took the things from his hand, he spun around and departed without another word. Celeste watched his tall figure from the back and his car which was parked nearby, but she didn’t know that it was a Lamborghini, just as she had no idea about Julian’s real identity because it was her first time meeting him today. She only married him in a rush to save herself from a miserable future. In all honesty, she wasn’t familiar with his grandfather, Edmond Meister, either. To be frank, she had only met the elder twice. However, for some reason, Edmond insisted that Julian marry her. The Lamborghini sped off, and Celeste immediately snapped back to her senses. She shook her head as she dismissed all the nonsense in her mind as she casually hailed a cab. Still, by the time she had made herself comfortable in the backseat, her mind began to wander as her heart felt as though it was being squashed by an anvil. “Philip Kiss, I’m utterly disappointed in you! Your son is sitting for his SAT soon, and your creditors went to the school to look for him. What have you done?! Did you lose your mind along with all your money in your poker games? Not only will you affect Tyler’s grades, but you may even get him expelled! His future will be ruined if that happens!” “All you do is complain every day! Let’s get a divorce if you’re so unhappy. It’s not too late for that now, anyway. Then, you can have custody of Tyler and take care of his education and life!” “Don’t you think for a second that I don’t want a divorce! I’ve been tolerating all your shenanigans for Tyler’s sake, and we’ll divorce once he enrolls in college! Even if I end up as a beggar, I will never take a single penny from you. I wanted Tyler to have a complete family, but he ended up so miserable instead…” Rochelle sobbed. This morning, Celeste’s parents had another big fight again, leaving her mother, Rochelle Martinez, in complete despair and hysteria because the creditors had taken away the only TV in their house. Nonetheless, that little tidbit wasn’t enough to crush Celeste. What really broke the camel’s back was the phone call she accidentally overheard last night—her gambler of her father had sold her away for 30,000, forcing her to marry a local tyrant! That was why she agreed to Edmond’s request and got married in such a rush today. According to him, his beloved grandson had a house, a car, and a stable job. Besides, he didn’t have any bad habits, so he hoped that she would consider his request. The car drove toward the direction of Grienius, an area in the metropolis of Rotterwand. When she caught sight of the familiar surroundings, she blinked back to reality as she whisked out her phone and called her mother. “Mom, pack your bags. I’m coming to pick you up now. Let’s move out and live elsewhere.” “Celeste, don’t co—” Before Rochelle could finish speaking, the line went dead. Clearly, someone had snatched her phone. “Mom? Hello, Mom!” A panicked Celeste clutched her phone and urged the cab driver to drive faster.