"Where are you?" Chuck asked.
Lylith's voice broke with tears as she gasped out her location.
Chuck set down the USB drive and rushed out of the office. He sped through the streets, slamming on the brakes at the toll station and forcing another car to a stop.
Lylith burst out of the car, her face streaked with tears. She threw herself into Chuck's arms. "They're all obsessed with marrying me off for money! I can't take it anymore, Chuck. You have to help me!"
"How?"
Lylith sobbed. "We could have a wedding ceremony without actually getting legally married. Just to get my parents off my back."
"No." Chuck didn't even hesitate. "Marriage isn't something you fake. People are watching, and it could blow up in both our faces."
"You're just afraid Lorrie will find out! Didn't you say she's the obedient type? She won't care. And let's be real. She's only ever a stand-in for me."
Lylith's parents, Alfred Fowler and Teresa Rhodes, called out from a distance, their voices sharp with urgen
