Chapter 3 - A Taste of Your Own Medicine

MAVERICK

I was furious to find my things outside the apartment building. The garbage truck could have collected them if I were only five minutes late. That douchebag was testing my patience, and that left me no choice but to take the room Genesis offered to me. It was out of my price range, but that’s the only apartment cheaper than anywhere.

Genesis helped me remove some of the boxes left by the previous tenant before she left for work.

My stomach churned when the alarm on my phone went off. It was a reminder of an appointment on my calendar. While the bills kept piling, I had zero balance left on my savings with a max credit card, and my grandmother was due for another checkup.

“Shit.” I went to my bag and fished out my phone.

My mind was telling me not to do it, but on the other hand, my pride couldn’t pay the bills, and deep inside, I wanted to get revenge against my ex. Maybe I was leaning more towards revenge.

I dialed the number, and it picked up right away.

“Boone.”

I cleared my throat before I spoke. “Does the half-million dollar offer still stand?”

I held my breath, but my heart began racing as I waited for a reply from the other line.

“Yes.” I cringed at his response. God, I wished I could take it back.

“Great. I have a list of demands I want you to relay to your boss.”

“It wouldn’t be you, Miss Bates, if you don’t have demands.” And one of them was no intimacy.

“I don’t recall telling you my full name.”

“Knowing who I am dealing with is part of my job. And I will forward them to my employer. Just send the list to the email provided in the card.”

“I want a cash advance. And that’s not negotiable. Rest assured, I will do the best of my ability to be a wife.” God, even the sound of it made me gag. What the hell did I put myself into?

“Very well then. I will send the money right away and the details of the contract. A lawyer will meet you with the NDA, contract, and the prenuptial agreement later today.”

I hung up the call, staring at the screen. What have I done?

My grandmother would never forgive me for my behavior, which would lead me down a slippery slope. I was nothing but those gold diggers I saw on social media. Maybe it was bad karma, judging people I didn’t know, what they’d been through, and the humiliation they had to deal with every day.

I wanted to cry, but my pride wouldn’t feed me and pay the bills.

Later that day, the ten thousand dollars arrived in my account, and I met the lawyers at the fancy restaurant in the evening.

After reading through the NDA and ignoring their ironclad prenup to protect their client’s wealth, I signed them right away because if I had been given another five seconds to think, I would have run out of the restaurant and needed the money. And besides, I didn’t want his family assets and inheritance but the amount I signed up for.

“Here’s the marital agreement for twelve months. Just as what is written in the NDA, you can’t disclose it to anyone.”

“I know what an NDA means.” I signed the agreement and dropped the pen. The two lawyers, Milus and Anders, did not miss to see my shaky fingers.

“Thank you, Miss Bates. Don’t worry. You did not sign away your rights to file a complaint when our client mistreats you or any domestic abuse throughout that marriage.”

***

I looked at myself in the mirror. I wore a new white oversized suit, applied a little makeup, and tied my hair in a bun. I bought a pair of shoes because I couldn’t go to my wedding day looking like a homeless person while my husband-to-be was wearing a thousand-dollar suit from a major brand.

I grabbed my bag and threw my stuff inside, including the small blue velvet box. I hadn’t opened it even if it arrived yesterday.

Every minute that passed as I drove to the city hall made my heart pound hard. I was not much of a crier. I thought life had taught me to be tough when my mother abandoned me to be with an asshole because her boyfriend didn’t want to take care of a kid.

The city hall came into view. Despite days of controlling my emotions, my chest finally gave up. I pulled the car over to the empty spot and screamed silently.

It just didn’t feel right. My grandmother raised me well, but what would it have left me if I had left the man alone to whom I now owed money? The fact that he was filthy rich, he could just hire someone to ruin my life or kidnap me and then dump my dead body in the river.

A knock on the window startled me. I took a deep breath and pulled myself together before I checked whoever was outside my car.

It was Owen in his fancy suit.

I grabbed my bag and unlocked the door.

“I was having a second thought that you might not show up.” As gentlemanly as he was, he opened the door for me.

“I still want to live.” I chuckled as I remembered what I had thought about not a moment ago. “It’s just twelve months in hell, and I’ve been in hell almost all my life, Owen.”

“You’ll be fine, Miss Bates. Trust me.” He stared at me, maybe realizing that I did not wear the dress his boss bought for me to wear for the hoax marriage ceremony.

I fixed my clothes and stared at him. “I don’t even know you to trust you. I’m sure you don’t give a crap about me if this isn’t your boss ordering you to be here.”

“I do care about good people, Miss Bates.”

“Just Maverick, Owen.”

“It’s my job to address you properly, Miss Bates.” He gestured his hand. “Shall we?”

I could literally feel my heartbeat against my chest as I walked inside the city hall.

“Relax,” Owen said as he nodded at the other guy in the same suit as his.

Gut tensing, I did my best to smile. “Easy for you to say. You’re not marrying an old stranger for money.”

For the first time, I heard him chuckle. His straight, pearly white teeth appeared as he smiled. Owen was a handsome, fine man, tall and muscly in his textured undercut hairstyle.

“Not funny.” Just now, I noticed he was wearing an earpiece like those bodyguards. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. You’ll be next after a couple is getting married right now.”

“Great. Now I’m feeling so nervous.” I followed him inside the small chapel and sat on one of the couches, but I still didn’t see my groom.

My heart could burst anytime in my chest, and I was about to ask Owen about my groom when someone took a seat to my left that smelled of expensive cologne.

“For you,” said the deep baritone voice from my left, offering me a beautiful bouquet of peonies, daisies, and white roses.

I shifted my eyes to the man in a navy blue Italian tailored suit. “No thanks. I’m sure my groom can afford a bouquet just right.”

I haven’t seen his face when he chuckled, but judging by his suit, his voice, his scent, and the flower he chose, he was not Wallace Winston. This man was definitely younger.

“And you’re not wearing my ring and the dress I picked for you.” He sounded almost disappointed.

In a single moment, I just changed my world, giving me a bitter taste of reality. My stare hardened as I met the man in the eye— stone blue eyes staring back at me, catching me off guard. He was not Wallace. Not even fucking close.

Shit.

With a single dark brow arched, patiently waiting for my reply, his stare was hard and focused, and all I could do was swallow hard.

“Maverick.”