2. Married without Formalities

"We are just partners, not the marriage type. We are acting in a play. Anything beyond that is not allowed," Lia told the irritated CEO before her.

Their deal was concluded after they altered some documents.

Lia was not stupid enough to tell her family all this. They would kill her, with words. She did not like them buzzing around her with research and documents about the harm in doing this. Anyway, there was no harm done here if she kept quiet.

She earned money now, just like a worker.

Aster had some hidden purpose and she wasn't interested in his affairs as long as he paid her on time. In the end, both were happy. She didn't have to think of excuses to tell her family as they would eventually separate. So, to save them from all the formalities and whatnot, she was going to take this secret to the grave.

Aster was still working. He never had to do all this but his brother was gone, so he had to shoulder all the tasks alone.

"Sir, why did you select her? There are so many people who would jump at the chance of marrying you!"

The assistant guy who was serious before Lia, was confused at the moment.

Aster stopped for a while and closed the file he was reading. He looked at the desktop and watched the screen for a while.

"She purely wants money. Other people will change when they find the real situation in my family. She loves money. I can give her that. That's all I have to give. My life is the last one to be taken by this curse. I want someone who could be my partner to the end. Not a lover or an admirer. It will only complicate everything."

The assistant scratched his head and stopped asking.

Aster kept working for a while before pausing. He rarely doubted himself.

Was he making a bad decision? But he didn't have the time to think again. The deal was done and he was considered married already.

Lia had a few days off till she officially started working. She was working a few side jobs and she was really not enjoying them. She had to design a few websites for some small vendors but she was stuck thinking about the deal with Aster.

Really stupid, she scolded herself. A handsome man is the beginning of your downfall.

The next day, she rushed out for her final project submission. She had to do that to graduate.

Her mentor Professor Ray was a kind old man in his fifties. He loved fighting with her. They talked about all the theories and worked like classmates. They had submitted many papers. This was the last one she would work on for a while.

"Hey LC. You are back. How about we make a fun robot for playing?"

He was coding a program that answered a line that rhymed with your input so that it would become a song. It was his brainchild. He wanted to become a songwriter and he had never found the perfect time for it. So, he made this code to play. The first version was funny. It answered in two words and now it developed into a line.

She tried it again.

I'm stuck

          TRY YOUR LUCK

Lia answered again.

A guy wants to marry me

          THE PROBLEMS YOU MUST SEE

I need money

          YOUR LIFE IS FUNNY

Now even a bot was making fun of her.

"Professor, you have to wait for a while. There's something I have to do."

"Oh, okay."

He answered and went back to work. She knew he was not in this world right now so she left. When he would remember, he would call her.

The university was buzzing with activity. She had two close friends but they weren't there. They were from different majors so she could only meet them later.

After she was done, she left the campus. She found the area filled with cars. Because her family was frugal, she used public transportation.

A car stopped before her.

"Come in. I will take you."

It was a girl she had seen once. Her name started with the letter C. She felt it would be bad to go with someone whose name she didn't remember. Lia turned down the offer.

But the girl in the car, Claudia looked obsessively at her back. She liked Lia ever since she saw her. She was like a light illuminating her life. She remembered how she helped her when she was ridiculed by those people. Maybe she didn't remember her but she knew everything about her.

Lia didn't know about her fanatic because she herself was a fanatic. But her object of worship was not people. She loved working. On gadgets or anything. She wanted to become Doraemon someday. With a gadget for everything. Sometimes childhood dreams do come true, it was her motto.

She was standing inside the bus. Pity her to miss a seat. Her cell phone buzzed.

"Meet me here at the bureau. Let's get the certificate."

Aster

This guy wasted no time. Yesterday he talked about the deal and today he wanted to seal it. She wasn't complaining. After a month she would get her monthly salary. It was good for her to get the certificate.

She just arrived at the building near his office and he picked her up in the car. The car looked fancy. She had no idea about cars though. But she felt that it should be the pricey one.

The office was deserted. Rich people have many quirks. The formalities were done quickly. The officers there were confused about their appearance but they were professional.

Lia wore a casual dress and Aster wore a high-end suit. Not matching. If Lia knew what they were thinking, she would say it was lucky that today was her project day. Otherwise, she would have worn the most casual outfit she could find. Now, she was not particularly dressed up.

As she signed her name, she was officially named with Aster's surname. She could change her name but why waste time? She liked her name and she didn't want to change it twice. So, she asked them to not change her name in the official documents. The other reason was that her mother would know eventually if there were any changes to her identity certificate.

"Good idea, this way no one who shouldn't know will know about our married status. Smart," Aster looked thrilled.

Different focal points but on the same wavelength, they both were.

When she came home, she saw her brother eating chocolate.

"Sister, I thought I saw you in the car today. The showiest one"

Lia felt bad. Was she caught on the first day of being undercover?