Chapter Two

Chapter Two

After the ceremony, my new husband and I left the wedding hall.

As we exited the town hall, the photographer asked us to stand on the steps to take a few souvenir photos.

I really wasn’t in the mood to smile… not after having my heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

Despite everything, I managed to force a smile as we posed side by side. The photographer took several pictures of the two of us, then some with the witnesses.

A few moments later, my new husband handed me the family record book that the mayor had given us.

My eyes fell on the names written inside:

Diana Rodrigues… and Lucas Bernard.

Meanwhile, he exchanged a few words with the photographer, collected the digital copies, and made sure the printed version would be delivered as soon as it was available.

Once that was done, he came back to me.

“Let’s go home.”

My heart began beating rapidly, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

I followed him. He stopped in front of a brand-new-looking black Maybach.

I didn’t know much about cars, but even I knew that a vehicle like this cost a fortune.

It looked luxurious… and impressive.

“Get in,” he said.

I obeyed almost mechanically. The air conditioning inside was pleasantly cool.

I enjoyed the comfort of the interior… until my mind drifted toward David, and my expression immediately darkened.

“What an idiot,” I muttered.

He turned his attention toward me.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I replied, seeing no point in repeating myself.

“Pull yourself together. We’re going to meet my grandfather,” he declared.

“Why?”

I expected to be taken to his house first… not to meet his family so soon.

“We just got married. I want to introduce you to my grandfather. Is there a problem?”

I could tell that he was used to getting what he wanted.

I was exhausted. All I wanted was to take a hot shower and rest.

“Another time,” I replied.

But he wasn’t the type to accept a refusal.

“Let’s just go see him, it won’t take long,” he insisted.

“Okay,” I replied reluctantly.

We arrived at a hospital, and the driver stopped.

I was stunned.

“I should have told you earlier… my grandfather has liver cancer. He’s bedridden at the moment.”

At that moment, he seemed to understand that he needed to explain the situation to me so that our arrangement could work.

“My name is Lucas Bernard,” he continued.

“My grandfather has been begging me to get married for a long time.”

“I told him that we had been dating for a year… and that’s why we got married.”

I was completely stunned.

His question brought me back to reality:

“What do you do for a living?”

“I work as a chef in a restaurant.”

“You’ll tell my grandfather that you’re still a student.”

I wondered how he would feel if he discovered that we were lying to him.

But I had already gone too far to turn back.

“And what do you do?” I asked.

He looked at me incredulously.

“You don’t know me?”

“Are you a celebrity?”

“No.”

His expression hardened. It was clearly the first time a woman hadn’t recognized him.

I realized that many women must know him… and probably follow his every move.

“I run the Bernad Group, which regularly makes the headlines in business and fashion magazines,” he explained.

I remained silent for a few seconds. The name Bernad Group vaguely rang a bell, then a memory came back to me: I had already submitted several applications to one of their hotels for a position as a sous-chef assistant. I had never been selected, but I still continued to try my luck every year.

“Which magazines?” I asked.

“All of them,” he replied.

“What do you mean, all of them?”

My eyes widened.

“I’m the heir to the Bernad empire.”

“What?!”

Had I really just married a billionaire?

After those words, Lucas headed inside the hospital, leaving me frozen in place.

I couldn’t believe it.

I looked at the ring he had slipped onto my finger at the town hall.

It wasn’t an ordinary ring. It was set with an exceptionally rare diamond. I had no idea how much it was worth, but I knew it was far beyond anything I could have imagined.

I should have known.

David… he would never have been able to give me a ring like this.

The ring fit my finger perfectly… as if it had been custom-made for me.