Chapter 2


    *Adide*


    “Alrighty then,” said the cheerful clerk behind the desk, “We just need to cover the fee, and you two will


    be married.”


    I watched silently, my mind reeling as Damon pulled out a gold card from his jacket like he had known


    he’d be needing it.


    “Do you


    take credit?” he shed her a charming smile.


    “Of course!” the brte clerk beamed.


    Normally, I’d have rolled my eyes at his flirting, but I was too busy wondering why on earth I was


    standing in the rk County Marriage License Bureau with Damon Steyn, my childhood adversary.


    I couldn’t think over the sounds of the whirling printer, the tapping of Damon’s fingers on the desk. and


    the smell of fresh ink.


    Still dazed, I looked around the lobby full of empty seating. There was only one clerk waiting when


    Damon and I reluctantly walked in.


    The Bureau was empty on a Friday night. Shouldn’t it be full?


    “Here’s your marriage license,” the clerk said as she handed over the freshly printed document.


    “Thank you,” Damon said, as he grabbed the license before I could even think of taking it.


    He turned to me with a massive grin as he folded the license up and tucked it away into his jacket.


    “Ready to go, my soon to be wife?” he teased, his rough palms sliding over mine.


    What the f*ck is going on?


    I reyed the moment at my sister’s engagement party when I’d blurted out that Damon and I were


    getting engaged over in my mind.


    “No,” Damon said confidently to my sister’s friends as he pulled his wrist from my grasp.


    My heart sank to the floor.


    There was a moment of stillness before the threedies erupted intoughter.


    “I knew you were lying!” Veronica said triumphantly.


    “Look at her face,” Le taunted, gleefully, “How pathetic can you be?”


    “Making up a fiance at your sister’s engagement party!” Mnie held a hand to her mouth, not even


    attempting to obscure her massive grin. “How despicable.”


    Outrage in my chest burned at their insults, but in my heart somewhere, I agreed.


    Nobody knew I was in a rtionship with Ashton, except my families. But they were engaged,


    moreover, with the blessing of my parents.


    But that didn’t mean I would knuckle under. My face heated up, as I opened my mouth to retort, arge


    arm wrapped around my shoulder and tugged me into a muscr chest.


    I stiffened in shock, as I nced up at Damon. He gazed at the three women coolly.


    13.12


    “We’re not getting engaged. Damon’s sharp voice cut through their giggles.


    “We’re getting married.”


    After the initial shock at his change in conviction, I grinned at the way their smug smirks slid off their


    faces like he’d pped them.


    Then his words truly registered in my brain.


    Wait a moment.


    Married? What the hell?


    “W-what?” Veronica stuttered, disbelief written all over her face. “You’re joking, right? Damon, I know


    you’re shocked that Corinna…..”


    “Of course not,” Damon said smoothly. “We’re getting our marriage license tonight, aren’t we, dear?”


    Despite the shiver down my spine at the pet name and wanting to throw up, I put on my widest smile.


    Just act natural, Adide.


    His dark eyes met mine.


    Oh, I knew that look.


    I gulped down a breath of fresh air, gathered thest shreds of my courage, and said goodbye to my


    remaining dignity.


    I leaned into his embrace and struggled not to blush as I wrapped one arm around his waist andid


    the other on his chest.


    D*mn it, even his back muscles were firm.


    He smirked as I scoured my brain for every acting skill I’d learned from Corinna and put on the best.


    performance of my life.


    “That’s right, honey.” I looked into his eyes like a lovesick teen, suppressing my urge to cringe behind.


    a girlish giggle.


    “In fact,” Damon nced at Veronica, Le, and Mnie like they were an afterthought. “We should


    probably get going if we want to acquire our license. Right, babe?”


    Despite his gentle grip and body pushed against mine, my greatest joy came from Le’s gobsmacked


    expression, Veronica’s wobbling lip, and Mnie, who looked about ready to faint.


    That satisfactionsted only a minute as I gloated, wrapping both my arms around Damon’s neck. His


    arms fell around my waist, strong and possessive.


    “We better hurry, baby,” I purred, not yet realizing what I’d agreed to.


    Damon smirked victoriously, and his arms tightened around my waist as he bent down until his lips


    grazed the top of my ear.


    “No backing out now, Addie,” he whispered seductively before pulling away.


    My face burned, and I gripped my ear, as I still felt the phantom touch of his lips. While I was distracted,


    Damon enveloped an arm around my shoulders and herded me to the exit like he’d been doing it all his


    life.


    “Good night,dies,” he called out behind him, without even a second nce.


    I really hadn’t expected him to be serious.


    But I should’ve known better. Damou never was one for half-ssing things.


    “We’re married?” I whispered disbelievingly to the stunning ring Damon slid onto my left hand.


    When did he prepare the ring?


    Ah. I know. I gave him a pitying look, though I was no better than him.


    It has got to be for Corinna, but anyway she got another one now.


    “Not for another month. We’ll still need a ceremony with a witness,” Damon said casually. “You don’t


    need to worry about that, though. I’ll take care of it.”


    I may as well have been married. To Damon Steyn, the same boy who used to pull my pigtails.


    whenever he could because he was bored. The same boy who stole all my Valentines Day cards and


    made me believe I didn’t get any for the whole day. That annoying, obnoxious little boy was now the


    strong man standing in front of me.


    Who I was practically married to.


    I eyed Damon as my senses returned to me. Why did he even agree to marry me in the first ce?


    He could have just walked away and left me to my pile of lies, but he didn’t.


    Cruel Corinna. I shook my head slightly. Look what she made her now ex-boyfriend do.


    “Why would you marry me? What are you gaining from this?” But still I demanded, suspiciously.


    “Who knows?” he said flippantly then smirked when I scowled at him.


    “All in due time, wifey,” he teased like a satisfied cat who’d finally gotten his cream. Hand in mine,


    Damon effortlessly ushered me to the exit like he didn’t have a care in the world.


    I sighed as I knew he had no intention of telling me. Whatever it was, we were in it together now.


    I nced at the ring that sat heavily on my finger. We’d swung by and got them on our way to get the


    certificate. I didn’t need to know all the details, though. Currently, this was beneficial for me. I’d bet able


    to get my revenge on Ashton and Corinna much faster now.


    We could always get the marriage annulledter, anyway. It’s not like we were an actual couple.


    Besides, nobody even knew about the marriage license except Corinna’s three friends, Damon, and I.


    Nobody. I did think so.


    Right as he opened the door, we were met with the blinding sh of a camera. I blinked away the


    sudden bright lights, barely making out the massive crowd before us.


    “Mr. Steyn, over here-”


    “Anyment about your previous rtionship with Corinna Hildebrand? Our reporter found that you


    went to the jewelry store together just yesterday!”


    “Miss Hildebrand, are you pregnant? Is that why this marriage is being rushed?”


    “Does it mean that the Hildebrand will intervene the Election?”


    A massive amount of reporters surrounded the building, dozens upon dozens carrying cameras and


    notepads as questions were thrown out that made my head spin.


    “Will you be called Mrs. Steyn?”


    It was Damon’s hold on my hand that prevented me from screeching like a banshee or hiding in the


    nearest dumpster at those two words. I did have dreamed of one day being called ‘Mrs. Steyn’, but


    never in a million years be this Steyn!


    Damon gave me that look, and I knew what he wanted. I almost wanted to tell him to shove it, but I


    couldn’t. I started this, and I had to see it through.


    Instead, I pushed away every ufortable emotion I had left for me to evaluateter when I was at


    home in my bed and willing to deal with it.


    I smiled and allowed all my years in front of the press to do their job as I held Damon’s hand like it


    wasn’t the only thing still keeping me standing. Like my life hadn’t flipped upside down in a single day.


    Like everything was fine, and I was a simple woman about to be married to the love of her life.


    “Some have imed that this marriage is nothing more than a publicity stunt between the Steyns and


    Hildebrands. What do you say to that?” one of the reporters shoved his microphone into my face.


    “It’s ridiculous,” Damon said smoothly, with a sappy look at me, “Adide and I are deeply in love.”


    D*mn, he was good.


    I almost believed he was truly in love with me.


    N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    Not to be outmatched, I beamed at him as I entwined our fingers. “Damon was my first love,” I gushed


    to the press, “and now,


    “and now, he’ll be myst.”


    The press roared in response to my im, and I suppressed a flinch at the sudden racket, struggling to


    maintain my lovesick grin.


    Unconsciously, I looked up at Damon for help only to discover his eyes were already locked on me, a


    deep emotion I didn’t want to name directed at me.


    He was too good at this. Practice makes perfect. I believed it now.


    Then he shed me a look. One I deciphered immediately.


    I paled, only his hand on my back preventing me from bolting down the street, but I didn’t back down.


    He leaned down, a finger raising my chin to meet him. There was barely a breath between us, eyes


    locked together.


    Do it, I challenged him with my eyes knowing he would understand.


    And he did.


    Our lips met in front of a storm of camera shes, and my eyes closed as I relinquished myself to the


    kiss.


    We fit together wlessly, much to my ire, his hand buried in my long hair as he pressed us together


    like a starved man.


    Despite how fierce he was, he was equally as gentle, skillfully coaxing my lips to join his in a


    passionate struggle of wills between us.


    Kissing Ashton was nothingpared to this kiss. This was nothing like any kiss I’d ever had before.


    He was overwhelming, and it would be so easy to let him seize control and let him do whatever he


    desired.


    But I wouldn’t let him win so easily.


    I bit down on his bottom lip, and he sucked in a breath, stealing the air directly from my lungs.


    Once I let go, we broke apart gasping for oxygen.


    Damon ran his tongue over the imprint of my teeth on his lip, a dangerous look on his face. I didn’t


    shrink, locking him straight in the eyes. It’s a battle. Started from childhood, and wouldn’t end with


    marriage.


    Then, he pivoted back to the press who’d witnessed the whole thing, not noticing the bite. That


    composure I expected from him was back in full force.


    “Our official wedding will be held in one month,” he dered to the cameras. “We wee everyone to


    witness the union between me-”


    His eyestched onto me with a feverish look. “And my beloved, Adide Hildebrand!”