Not My Bride

I must have looked terrible. Jane Vance's smile faded too, and she reached for my hand, trying to comfort me.

"It's just a fake marriage." She took my hand, her expression sincere. "Once Lucas secures his position at the lab, we'll find an excuse to get divorced."

I forced myself to calm down and listen to what Jane was saying, but my hands were still trembling.

Six months ago, I had a bad feeling when she pulled strings to get Lucas Miller, her senior, into the lab. He simply wasn't qualified to work in a lab at this level.

Rowan Sterling, the lab's main investor, cared deeply about individual productivity. Once the records were reviewed, Lucas' poor performance would come to light, and he would be dismissed before long.

Even if Jane had made an exception to get him in, it would not be enough to keep him there.

Little did I know, Jane would come up with such an unconventional solution.

He had a stable marriage himself, so he tended to favor talented people who had families of their own, believing they were more reliable.

Jane had taken advantage of that to keep Lucas in the lab.

Back then, she told me she would take care of everything. I didn't know she'd pull off something like this!

I slowly pulled my hand away.

"You expect us to keep acting like we used to?" I whispered. "How am I supposed to treat you like before? You make me feel like a side piece!"

Jane froze.

"Well, you're most certainly not," she said urgently. "You're the person I truly want to spend my life with. This is only temporary. Lucas has been having a hard time. We're just helping him this once, okay?"

Why did I have to sacrifice my marriage just because Lucas was struggling to keep his job?

No, it was not my marriage anymore.

"I'm exhausted. I need to rest. You can sleep in the guest room tonight."

Jane looked at me for a long moment before sighing. "I know you're having a hard time with this. Perhaps you just need some time to cool off."

…

The next day, I went to the lab as usual, wanting to drown myself in work.

As I passed the break room, I heard several researchers chatting inside.

"Did you hear that Jane and Lucas got married? Lucas said so himself yesterday."

"Seriously? I thought she and Seth were together. Haven't they always been pretty close?"

A sharp, derisive scoff followed.

"Seth? Who does he think he is? Let's be honest, he's just her lackey. If he hadn't kissed up to Jane, someone with his academic background wouldn't have qualified for a lab like ours. Look at him. He spends all day typing code into a computer. An intern could do the kind of work he's doing."