CHAPTER 5

A bright morning was what Lia woke up to. To think she was going to be married to a man she barely knew by afternoon, it still left her in a daze. Lia got up and went about her daily morning routine before heading out to meet Ryan at the local government office to register their marriage . 

  Lia arrived and met Ryan waiting for her there already. The traffic on the way was very bad and she was already 30 minutes late from the set time they were supposed to meet , so she had to run the rest of the distance. 

“ Sorry I’m late, there was a lot of traffic” she said, trying to catch her breath.

“ Miss Lia, you should learn to keep to time,” Ryan said with a straight face and walked into the clerk's office. 

Lia stood there kind of surprised by his cold behavior. She stood and watched as he walked into the office with a scowl on her face. 

"He could have picked me up”Lia thought with a sneer dancing on her face. They went through the necessary procedures until it was time to officially sign the marriage certificate. 

The clerk, who was a weary looking man with big round glasses that looked like it was about to fall off his face, attended to them. He handed them two papers to sign. Ryan collected them and signed it without any hesitation and passed it to Lia.  Lia sat  straight up and looked at the papers that were handed to her. 

She started having different thoughts. What was she doing here with a man she barely knew? Why is she doing this again? Why was she sitting here across this scrawny looking man asking her to dedicate three years of her life to a marriage that is bound to end ? Why? She thought.

 “Ma’am?” The clerk looked at her with a face that pleaded for her to sign the papers and leave. 

“oh, right” Lia said looking up at his face then at Ryan who seemed unbothered. She picked up the pen and signed the papers leaving a big sigh like she just sold her soul to the devil. After signing the papers they were asked to wait for the marriage certificate as it would be sent through mail. They both walked out of the building and stood.

“Get in the car, I’ll drop you off” Ryan suggested. Lia looked at his face that looked like he was forced to speak to her and began to think maybe she was careless in her decision to marry him. 

“I already called a taxi, thanks”Lia lied.

“Ok then I’ll get going”  he said without a care and walked to his car and drove off, leaving Lia shocked by how rude and cold he really was. She later hailed a taxi and went to her work. Lia had taken a half day off from her job. She had only told her boss that she had to take care of some personal matters. Now she had to address herself as a married woman. It all seemed unreal to her. 

Lia got to work and finally announced to both her boss and coworkers that she was married, but when she told them that it wasn’t Jake she was married to she got mixed reactions. Some weren’t supportive of her decision and even went as far as to spread rumors of her being unfaithful, while some like her boss and Olive, who witnessed what happened at the club, were happy for her. 

Lia was happy to know that she at least had people who supported her, even though it was a fake marriage. Lia stood over the counter attending to the last customer after they put up the closed sign for the restaurant, she was drained after everything that happened for the day. 

She was looking forward to going home and having a long warm shower when the door suddenly opened,

“sorry we're closed…” Lia said but after seeing who entered her face changed. 

Everyone who worked there was surprised to see Jake and didn’t  know how to react after Lia told them about her marriage. He came in and went directly to her.

 “We need to talk, come out,” he ordered. 

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about anymore, “ Lia replied with a cold stare and an even colder voice.  Everyone stood and watched as the drama unfolded. 

“Do you want to do this here, in front of everyone?” 

“I don’t think we have anything to say to each other anymore, much less in private”

“really!” Jake shouted, 

“ what about the ridiculous rumors that you’re married!?” 

“Sorry to disappoint you but it’s not a rumor, I am married” Lia answered with a straight face. Jake stared at her like she just threw cold water at his face. He stared at her at a loss for words. He grabbed Lia by her arm out of the restaurant. 

“let me go!” Lia struggled to free her arm but it was useless as he was way stronger than her. He dragged her all the way to his car.

“what do you mean you’re married? We broke up like what , a week ago? “ Jake shouted at her

“yes we broke up a week ago, after I caught you cheating on me!” Lia shouted back at him.

 “ pls leave here Jake, don’t make me hate you more than I already do” 

“ I’m not leaving till you explain to me what’s going on” Jake said, grabbing her arm again

“ let me go!” Lia struggled to free herself.

 “let me go Jake, you’re hurting me”

 “not until you explain what’s going on” 

“let me go!” Lia was starting to get scared. Jake looked at her with a kind of madness in his eyes, she had never seen him look like that before. 

“Jake calm down and let me go” Lia continued to struggle with him when suddenly she was yanked away from Jake’s stronghold into another person's arms. When she looked up she was surprised to see who it was. She immediately put her arms around him and sobbed. Jake, who was surprised by the sudden pull, wanted to hit the person who interrupted them but was also surprised to see who it was. 

“ huh? Mr Hayes , what brings you by” Jake said suddenly scared,he was more surprised though to see Lia hugging him and crying in his arms. 

“Stay away from her if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison” Ryan said sternly 

“what do you mean sir , I’m just having a conversation with my girlfriend “

“your  girlfriend? I think you’re mistaken because as of today miss Amelia became my wife, so if you value your job and your life, stay away from her” Ryan said in a threatening voice.