The question hung between them, less a romantic plea and more a boardroom proposition.
Noah's mind, which had just been running on the hysterical fumes of betrayal, suddenly snapped back to crystal-clear focus. He stared at the man, Alexander Anderson, though Noah didn't yet know his name, only that his presence was a sheer force of will.
"Are you serious?" Noah's voice was shaky, but the initial shock had given way to a dangerous, reckless curiosity. This was not the time for logic; logic had led him here, to the door of his own humiliation.
The man's grip tightened on his wrist, a silent insistence. "Perfectly serious. My bride just abandoned me twenty minutes ago. My board is expecting a signed certificate by the end of the hour. A key merger depends on this. I need a husband.
You need… I assume you need to save face. And perhaps vengeance. I am offering you both."
Alexander Anderson spoke with the clipped, precise delivery of someone who never had to repeat himself. He gestured to the open door of the Marriage Bureau—the very door Kelvin and Ella had just passed through.
Noah looked back at Kelvin. His ex-fiancé was now gawking, his perfect jaw slack. Ella, too, had lost her glowing smugness, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. The sight of their confused, eclipsed expressions was a cold, sharp balm to Noah's burning heart.
Vengeance. A word his mother would have abhorred, but a word that now tasted sweeter than any wedding vow.
"Your bride… left you?" Noah asked, his voice steadying.
Alexander's expression didn't change. "She lacked the requisite resolve. It's irrelevant. The fact is, I require a spouse. A temporary one, of course. A contract, a year or two, until the merger is complete and the public image is established. You will be compensated handsomely. You will retain your dignity. And you will ensure your former fiancé never sleeps soundly again."
It was the most brutally honest proposal Noah had ever received. No lies, no promises of love, just a stark alignment of two broken, desperate needs. Alexander needed a trophy; Noah needed a shield and a sword.
"What's your name?" Noah asked.
"Alexander Anderson."
The name hit him like a physical blow. Alexander Anderson. The tech and real estate billionaire. The only heir to the Anderson Empire. A man known for his ruthlessness in the market and his utter disinterest in the social scene—except when necessary. Marrying him wasn't just saving face; it was vaulting over his father's paltry inheritance and Kelvin's greed into an untouchable stratosphere.
Noah looked back at Kelvin one last time, meeting the man's shocked, dawning fear. He remembered the sting of the mockery, the coldness of his father's silence.
He remembered his mother's wish for him to find safety. Alexander Anderson, for all his coldness, felt like an impenetrable fortress compared to the flimsy house of cards Kelvin had built.
If love is a game, I just changed the rules.
Noah took a deep breath, the silk of his abandoned wedding suit suddenly feeling less like a trap and more like armor.
He gently pulled his wrist free from Alexander's grasp, but only to extend his hand in a handshake, business-like and firm.
"Professor Noah Li," he stated, naming his own, lesser-known achievement. "I accept your proposition, Mr. Anderson. Lead the way."
Alexander's obsidian eyes held his for a beat longer, a flicker of something—perhaps appreciation for the rapid mental calculation—before a subtle smirk touched his lips. He turned without another word and strode back into the Marriage Bureau, Noah following like a shadow that had finally found its light source.
Inside, the marriage officers were whispering frantically, exchanging wide-eyed glances. Cameras began to flash in the lobby as reporters, tipped off about the original Anderson wedding, now realized they had a far more sensational story.
Alexander did not slow down. He handed his paperwork to the Chief Officer with a look that dared anyone to question his authority. The officer, pale and flustered, quickly exchanged the name on the revised documents.
"Mr. Anderson, Dr. Li, you… you are sure about this?" the officer stammered, looking from the billionaire to the man in the rumpled white suit.
Noah stepped forward, placing his hand over Alexander's on the table where the signature line waited. "We are absolutely sure," he stated, his voice ringing with a conviction he hadn't possessed five minutes ago.
He took the pen. The ink felt momentous, irreversible. He signed his name—Noah Li—then, on the line marked 'Spouse', he signed it again, adding the newly acquired surname. He signed without hesitation, every stroke a declaration of independence from his past, a middle finger to Kelvin and his father.
As the officer stamped the certificate, Alexander retrieved it. It was official. They were married. Two strangers, tied by desperation, ego, and a corporate merger.
The cameras exploded into a frenzy.
Alexander leaned in, his lips brushing Noah's ear, the rich, subtle scent of expensive cologne and power washing over him. The words were a low, possessive murmur, meant only for Noah to hear, yet echoing with the force of an ultimatum.
"You're my husband now—act like it."
He didn't wait for a response. Alexander simply took the hand he had just claimed with the signed contract and led Noah out the back entrance, straight into the glare of their new, terrifying reality.
The Marriage Bureau, once the site of his deepest heartbreak, was now the birthplace of his most dangerous gamble.