Semua Bab Unexpected Marriage: The night that changed my life: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The morning sun filtered through the white curtains, painting the room in light golden tones. Still, Phoenix's October heat was sweltering; Dry waves stuck to the skin before it even reached noon. Chloe woke up early, as usual, to prepare breakfast for three people. But that day, the weight of the routine seemed lighter. It was as if all the previous years had been nothing but rehearsals. That day, she felt ready to play the leading role in her life. The morning sun filtered through the white curtains, painting the bedroom in pale golden tones. Still, Phoenix's October heat was suffocating; dry waves clung to the skin before noon even arrived. Chloe had woken up early, as always, to prepare breakfast for three people. But that day, the weight of routine felt lighter.It was as if all the previous years had been nothing but rehearsal. That day, she felt ready to play the leading role in her life.Chloe had been in love with her boyfriend since she met him in high school five years ago.

Chloe grabbed the keys and drove Ruan’s car to his apartment. At her side, he seemed to sleep, his head leaning to the side, eyes closed, and the smell of alcohol escaping from his mouth invading her nostrils. She felt almost certain she would regret this the next day.Ruan had been engaged to Chloe’s half-sister for more than two years. They met in college, and since then, they never separated. They were a perfect couple. Ruan was a good man, but Chloe couldn’t remember ever having a conversation with him that lasted more than five minutes.This was the first time she found herself alone with him. He had been so kind, remembering her birthday when everyone else had forgotten, that Chloe felt obligated to help him get home safely.After parking the car in the garage, she got out, opened Ruan’s door, and took a deep breath. She checked if he was awake when he opened his eyes and looked at her. His gray eyes looked a little red, but almost imperceptibly so.His beauty almost unraveled h

Regret burned in her stomach. Felix paced through the house, talking nonstop. The words leaving his lips were cruel. Josephine cried in the corner of the living room, covering her face with her hands as if she had just buried her own daughter.As she was being insulted, Chloe opened her lips in several attempts, but nothing she said could erase the stain she was leaving on her own family.“There’s no need to waste words on her,” Josephine said, her fists clenched. “Your daughter destroyed everything. She ruined our family.”“She needs to correct the mistake she made, or she leaves this house, and I never want to see her again,” Felix said, his face contorted with rage.The accusation hung in the air. Chloe didn’t know if she could live with that guilt forever. She stood up, feeling her knees creak as she rose. She could tell them all the things she had kept in her heart: the neglect, the absence, the disregard. Not only that, but she had lived in Megan’s shadow her entire life; nobody

It was a simple ceremony. No guests, no parties, no vows of happiness. Only Chloe and Ruan in front of a judge, surrounded by the chaos of her parents’ house and buried under memories and suffering.There was no way that marriage could succeed.His gray, cold eyes locked on Chloe the moment the judge declared them husband and wife. No matter how deeply his disdain struck her, Chloe simply wasn’t prepared for how beautiful he was.With the last ounce of dignity she had, she lowered her head, refusing to look at him. Every time she looked at Ruan and saw his irresistible beauty, guilt pierced her even deeper for what she had done the night before.“Chloe,” she heard Felix’s growl beside her as he walked toward her. “The party is over. Go upstairs, pack your bags, and disappear from my house.”Detached, as if he were looking at something worthless, he turned his back and left. Chloe couldn’t help thinking that maybe this would be the last time she saw her father. Felix had made it clear

Chloe soon realized she didn’t know who Ruan truly was. He was a shadow of what she had once imagined him to be. Being married to a stranger suddenly felt terrifying.They spent two long days locked inside that apartment. There was no reason to go out while she kept receiving messages from Samanta, flaunting every detail of her upcoming wedding. At one point, Chloe couldn’t take it anymore and blocked everyone who reminded her of her past.No one was left. Her father despised her. Her stepmother no longer wanted to see her. And Megan was now so far away that not even a smoke signal could reach her. When she returned to college, she would be the laughingstock, mocked for having been abandoned by her boyfriend.She pushed aside Ruan’s last rude behavior before sitting at the table to have dinner alone. She had spent hours cooking that meal and refused to waste such good food made in such little time. If Ruan wouldn’t eat, she wasn’t going to act like her mother, forcing him to take a bi