An XL Wife For The Playboy Tycoon

Elizabeth looked into the eyes of the young lawyer who'd been interning at her father's company for five months, and she couldn't believe they were getting married in secret.

It had been love at first sight, something that had never happened to her, because she wasn't the kind of woman who turned heads and wasn't used to a man falling for her like that.

She'd been overweight since she was a little girl, and even though she'd grown up in a family that had always tried to make her feel beautiful, she knew what men thought of her.

For love, she had just done something crazy.

She'd run away from home after confessing to her father that she was in love with the new intern, and he had flatly refused to accept the relationship.

Her father believed Jonathan only wanted her for her money, and that she was a naive girl who thought she was in love with the first man to show her a little affection.

Elizabeth intended to prove to him and the rest of her family that they were wrong.

He wanted to disinherit her? Fine, let him. She was marrying the man she loved, no matter how much they objected.

From the moment she'd told her boyfriend she would run away to marry him, Jonathan had arranged everything to make it happen.

Right now she was walking into the church, nervous as anything, but determined to go through with it.

There hadn't been time to find a wedding dress, or time for her to explain that she'd fought with her father and was out of money.

Jonathan was in too much of a hurry; he was desperate to marry her.

When she reached his side he didn't look at her, but she tried not to worry and told herself he was just very nervous.

Elizabeth was nervous too. Her life was about to change today.

Before she could even wrap her mind around it, she was saying "I do" in a bare-bones ceremony, with hardly any guests, feeling awful that her family wasn't there beside her.

"Do you take Elizabeth Patterson to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, care for, and respect her until death do you part?" the priest asked, and she noticed her groom close his eyes, clench his jaw, and look at her as if it took tremendous effort.

Elizabeth was afraid he would back out, that he didn't love her the way he claimed.

If that happened, she wouldn't know how to face it.

He was her first love. Since before she'd even finished school, she had devoted her life to working at her father's company.

She'd had no experience with men, and hadn't had any desire left to try.

She was tired of being humiliated over her appearance, and he was the only one who had never looked at her like the fat girl everyone had to put up with because she was the owner's daughter.

"I do," she heard him say, and she sighed with relief.

When the priest repeated the question for her, she answered as fast as she could, full of hope.

"Yes, of course I do," she said, and looked at the man who was now her husband, her eyes shining.

When it came time for the kiss, Jonathan still didn't look happy.

He leaned in and did nothing more than brush her cheek.

Just like he'd done during their three short months of dating in secret.

He'd always said he respected her too much to take advantage of her, but now they were husband and wife. Didn't she deserve a kiss?

Was even her own husband not going to want to kiss her?

Twenty-six years old, and never once had a man shown the slightest desire for her.

She was a whole woman, from head to toe. Maybe she didn't have great beauty or the fashionable body, but her family had always said Elizabeth deserved the world…

Even though the world didn't seem to want her.

Elizabeth put her hand to her cheek and felt even more crushed. He was still keeping his distance, and she couldn't stop thinking about her father's words.

"He only loves you for your money, for being my daughter. That man is a social climber who wants nothing but to move up in the company. He's a good-for-nothing, a useless nobody."

Elizabeth shoved the thought out of her head.

It couldn't be true. Jonathan loved her; he was just too shy to show his feelings in public.

"You're my wife now," her husband said and, for the first time since the ceremony began, he managed a smile.

"Yes, I still can't believe it. We're married." She smiled back and started to hope that this might work out after all.

Jonathan checked the time as if he were in a big hurry, then looked her over with a frown.

"We'll go to the hotel, consummate the marriage so there's no room for doubt, and then we'll talk to your father." When he spoke of what would be her first time as a matter of self-interest, something to be taken care of, her stomach twisted into a knot.

"I thought we'd spend some time with your family and friends." She looked at the people in the church, and nobody looked excited.

It was a very small group, and they were strangers to her.

Jonathan had never introduced her to his friends or to his family.

He'd said it was because of their secret relationship.

He felt inferior to her in status, but that didn't matter to Elizabeth.

She'd had money her whole life but never a man's love, and she was eager to receive it.

"These people? No, I offered them money to be witnesses. Which reminds me, write me a check or give me some cash so I can pay them. They're waiting for me to do it. You know I barely scrape by as an intern."

Elizabeth didn't like the way he was talking to her. He was being very cold, and not once had he looked at her with affection, but once again she chalked it up to the day's nerves.

"He only loves you for your money."

No, that couldn't be.

But if it wasn't true, why was she so afraid to confess that she now had as little money as he did?

"S-sure, we'll go to an ATM afterward… I didn't have time to bring anything, with the whole mess of sneaking out without anyone seeing me," she lied. Her family had seen her leave, small suitcase in hand, after her father canceled all her cards and called his lawyer to write her out of the will.

Officially, she was a pariah, but her family was wrong, and they would regret it when they saw how happy she was in her marriage.

"Let's go to an ATM now," he insisted. "Plus, we need money for the hotel."

Elizabeth knew this was the moment to confess she had nothing, but fear held her back.

"We could go to your apartment. You told me you rented one, right? I don't need a hotel, or luxury, I just want to be with you, Jonathan." Her husband gave her a look that froze her heart.

"You're selfish and cheap! You've had everything in your life, and I haven't! I marry you and you want to take me to my crappy apartment? No, not in your dreams!" She'd never heard him yell like that, much less talk to her that way.

He had always been sweet and kind to her. It was as if, now that they were married, the mere sight of her disgusted him.

The people in the church had started to notice them as he raised his voice, and some of them were laughing.

"Keep your voice down, please, everyone's staring at us." She felt humiliated. "Let's talk outside. Let me explain."

Jonathan nodded and followed her, but the wedding witnesses decided to follow, too.

Apparently they found the newlyweds' fight very entertaining.

One of the strangers stopped her husband and grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't go too far. The boss wants his money, or else, you know, we'll break your legs so next time you learn how to gamble without losing."

"What is that man talking about?" Elizabeth asked, frightened.

Now that she was getting a good look at them, they didn't seem like respectable people.

The man ignored her and shot her husband a warning look.

"Come on, it's nothing you need to know about." Jonathan grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the exit.

"You're hurting me!" she protested at the way he was gripping her. "Please, stop."

"Stop whining, I can't stand you! Just give me the money already!" he yelled at her. He seemed to loathe her.

Elizabeth pressed her lips together and tried to calm him down.

"I can't give it to you. My father refused to let us marry and took everything from me. He even called his lawyer to disinherit me. My family has disowned me for marrying you, but I don't care, we'll make it because we love each other." She tried to hug him, but he stepped back as if she disgusted him.

"Are you telling me I married you and you have nothing?"

"We love each other, don't we?" she repeated, though she was beginning to understand that the feeling was hers alone.

"Are you out of your mind?! In what world would a hideous whale like you be with a man like me?! You can't imagine how sick it made me to pretend this whole time that I felt something for you. Your only appeal is the money, and now you don't have it!"

Her husband had gone mad, especially now that the men were starting to close in.

"Why are they coming toward us?" she asked, scared.

"Because you, you worthless fatty, can't do anything right! All you had to do was keep your mouth shut and not say anything to your family! Now they're going to beat me up because of you, but you're going to pay for this." With all his strength he grabbed her arm and shook her until she fell to the ground.

She took the impact on her knees and cried out in pain.

"You can't be serious, this can't be real, I left my family for you!"

Jonathan started rummaging through her belongings until he found her purse.

While he did, he kept asking the men around him for time.

When he pulled out her wallet and saw barely a few dollars, he began begging in front of the thugs.

Elizabeth, who even after the humiliation didn't want them to hurt him, asked:

"How much money does he owe you?" She stood up and saw her knees, the skin scraped raw and bloody.

"Four thousand dollars plus interest. You gonna save this piece of trash's ass?" the one with a scar on his face answered, watching her reach for her grandmother's necklace.

Yes, her husband was garbage, but she didn't have it in her to let them beat him up right in front of her.

She took off the necklace, a family heirloom worth a fortune.

"This is worth a lot more than he owes. Keep it, and please, leave us alone."

The man looked at it and nodded.

"Hideous and stupid, on top of it all," she heard Jonathan insult her. "Come on, everything's taken care of here."

Her husband, still trembling, came over to her.

"Thanks," he croaked, as if it hurt to say it. "Now we can go talk to your family and convince them to give you everything back."

Elizabeth felt her soul being torn apart. She couldn't go back to her family after the scene she'd made, much less stay with the man who had deceived her so vilely.

"Thank me by signing the divorce papers," she said. "I never want to see you again as long as I live."