Chapter 3

Less than a week later, she became Mia Norwig. Left for her, the name didn’t really sound so good, but it was the least of her problems with the arrangement they made.

The week had been a long one. She's gone back to the office the day after to meet a contract already prepared. Given the fact that she didn't trust the man as far as she could throw him, she'd gone through it line by line, but if she was expecting anything suspicious, she didn't find it. 

The contract had been pretty basic. Marry me and keep my secrets. He'd given her access to a part of his funds in case she needed it, a new bank account and even offered a payment if they both agreed to break the arrangement without breaking a term of the contract. 

If his secret eventually got out, she was going to be in trouble though. She'd signed the document even though it had looked too good to be true. 

As soon as her signature was on paper, she'd received the money she'd requested, paying Ellen's fees immediately. Her sister would be transferred to a specialist in the next few days who would try to detect what was wrong. All in all, she could say it had been a good week. Busy, but the best she could ever remember.

The only downside was the man himself. True, she'd done her research and the news had painted him as this cold, calculating, manipulative person. But she hadn't really believed them because of the first impression she'd gotten of him. 

Their first meeting, although filled with its own tension, had painted a different picture of the man she'd had to have meetings with for the past week. 

Where before, she could have sworn she'd seen a smile across his lips, ever since the day after their first meeting, he couldn't seem to stop scowling at her. 

“Congratulations, I guess,” Michelle, one of her closest friends in the same industry said dryly. She rolled her eyes as she came back to the present. 

“Your enthusiasm is really something. Others would say you're even more excited than the bride.” 

“Well, considering you have the enthusiasm of a dead rabbit, that sarcastic response just went over my head.”

She grinned outwardly. Her friend was correct. When she'd visualized her wedding day, she hadn't been planning this. She swept her eyes over the open court space they'd been wedded. Her husband, she grimaced at the word, was typing furiously on his phone while having a conversation with the man he'd introduced as his PA. 

At least he'd dressed up and said his “I do’s.” It wasn't like she was any better anyway, rather than use her sister's medical expenses to get a new, white ridiculous wedding gown, she'd fished out one of her newest gowns and worn it. It was off-white with floral patterns and as good as new. 

“So what's the plan now? You're really not going to tell me anything about this guy other than that you married him by choice?” Her friend asked, gazing at Lucas with something like adoration in her eyes. 

She elbowed her in the ribs. 

“Ow, what was that for?”

“That's my husband you're staring at like that, you cow.”

Her friend fluttered her hands to her face. “I know, right. And he's so handsome. I didn't even know you knew each other. How did you manage to catch him?”

She scrambled fast for something to say. While they'd not talked about keeping their stories straight, she had no doubt her husband would seriously mind her going around telling people their marriage was a response to blackmail. The same man was the one who bailed her out. 

“Mia,” she looked back, and he gestured his head to the door and started walking away.

How rude. She was tempted to sit there and keep him waiting, but she needed away from the question she had still not managed to answer. She smiled at her friend.

“Later, huh. We need to go.”

She stood up and Michelle dragged her by the hand, almost landing her back into the chair. She didn't notice because her eyes were following Lucas’ movement. 

“Does he have a brother?” her friend asked seriously.

“I think so,” she replied, aware of how weird the answer sounded. “Anyways, bye. I'll be at work on Monday.”

Michelle waited until she'd gone a reasonable distance before shouting.

“Mia!” She looked back.

Her friend cupped her hands around her mouth and she knew she wasn't going to like the next thing to come out of her mouth. Sure enough, because the next thing Michelle said while she had the attention of everyone, her husband included, was, “Enjoy your honeymoon.”