CHAPTER 9

Elena's POV

The city clerk’s office did not look like a place where dreams went to die, but it certainly didn’t look like a wedding venue either. It smelled of wet umbrellas, industrial floor wax, and cheap perfume.

I stood under the flickering fluorescent lights of Manhattan Civil Court, staring down at a white piece of paper. My signature looked shaky next to Oliver’s bold, clean cursive. With a single stamp from a bored-looking clerk in a beige cardigan, it was over.

We were married.

"Congratulations," the clerk muttered, not looking up as she slid our copy of the certificate across the laminate counter. "Next."

Oliver took the paper before I could even touch it, slipping it into the inner pocket of his charcoal suit coat. "Thank you," he said smoothly, turning on his heel. "Let’s go, Elena."

I followed him out of the building, my heels clicking loudly against the marble floors of the hallway. My chest felt tight, the reality of what I had just done pressing down on my lungs. *I am a wife,* I thought, the word feeling heavy and completely wrong in my mind. *I am Oliver Wyatt’s wife.*

The second we stepped through the heavy glass doors of the courthouse and onto the bustling sidewalk, Oliver pulled out his phone. His thumbs flew across the screen with practiced speed.

"I’m messaging Arthur now," he said, his voice entirely professional as he started walking toward the curb where his sleek black town car was idling. "The wire transfer for the one million dollars is being initiated as we speak. I'm having him send thirty thousand directly to the hospital’s billing department first to guarantee the receipt before noon. The remaining nine hundred and seventy thousand will hit your personal account within the hour."

I stopped walking, pulling my phone from my blazer pocket. My fingers were trembling so much I almost dropped it. I opened my banking app, sitting on the homepage, waiting.

Two minutes passed in complete silence. The roar of New York traffic swirled around us, but my entire universe was shrunk down to a glowing five-inch screen.

Then, it blinked.

The balance, which had been sitting at a tragic fourteen dollars and fifty-two cents for the last three weeks, suddenly shifted. A comma appeared. Then another.

$970,014.52.

A gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it. I pressed my hand over my mouth, staring at the numbers until my eyes burned. It was real. It wasn't a dream. The hospital was getting their deposit, and Chloe’s surgery was officially safe. I had enough money to buy her medications, pay for her therapy, and ensure she never had to worry about a single thing for the rest of her recovery.

"Is it there?" Oliver asked, stopping a few paces ahead of me and looking back over his shoulder.

I looked up at him, my eyes swimming with unshed tears. For all his arrogance and his cold, calculating nature, he had kept his word. "Yes," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion. "It's there. They just sent the confirmation text from the hospital, too. The deposit is cleared."

Oliver nodded once, a look of grim satisfaction crossing his features. "Good. Your sister is taken care of. Now, it's time to take care of my board of directors."

He opened the door to the town car, gesturing for me to get in. "We have exactly three hours before the emergency meeting. We need to get you back to the office, get Frank to brief you on the seating arrangements, and make sure you look like a woman who is madly in love with her new husband."

I stepped into the plush, leather-scented interior of the car, the door shutting out the noise of the city. As Oliver slid into the seat next to me, the vehicle pulled smoothly into the traffic, heading straight toward the towering glass skyscraper of Wyatt Enterprises.

The easy part was over. I had saved my sister, but now I had to walk into a boardroom full of sharks and convince them that a billionaire playboy had completely changed his life for an ordinary assistant.

I clutched my purse tightly against my lap, staring out the tinted window. Just play the part, I whispered to myself. For Chloe. Just play the part.