Married To A Stranger 소설 & 이야기

And yet… here he was, haunting her sleep and now her days. She slammed her phone down and marched toward the shower. The hot spray hit her body in steady streams, rolling down her skin. She closed her eyes, letting the heat seep into her bones, but her mind refused to be soothed. Instead, thoughts spiraled her empty bank account, the looming marriage her parents had arranged with a stranger named Liam, a man she’d never met, didn’t want to meet. The years of loneliness, of summers and winters spent alone while her parents chased careers and wealth.

“Unless it’s a miracle lottery win, I don’t think anything can fix this.” Emma leaned forward, voice dropping. “There’s this new government program called the One-Year Marriage Incentive Scheme. Couples who sign a legal one-year marriage contract and live together get a huge one-time payment — enough to cover major medical bills and clear heavy debts. After twelve months, you can walk away free.” Abby froze. “Marry a stranger for money?”

After he left, I remained seated, staring at the invitation in my hands. A trip to China. Normally, the thought would have annoyed me. The flight alone was long enough to make anyone miserable. But surprisingly, I found myself looking forward to it. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. I wasn't looking forward to China. I was looking forward to leaving. Leaving the tension, the arguments, the endless accusations. Leaving home. I have been married for only two months. Two months! And already, the idea of putting an ocean between myself and my wife sounded like a vacation.

I ask the stranger, itching to put distance between myself and this person putting very insane thoughts in my head. Then the stranger says the maddest thing I’d ever heard, the third person to bring it up in just a few hours, but unlike them, he doesn’t suggest, he asks. “So, would you marry me?”

“Would you have believed me if I told you I married a stranger yesterday?” She couldn’t argue with that. By afternoon, Olivia found herself on the terrace overlooking the city, her thoughts tangled in chaos. Sebastian joined her quietly, holding two mugs of coffee. “Still thinking about it?” he asked. She nodded. “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that I married a stranger or that I’m considering staying married to him.” He smiled faintly. “Both are pretty extreme.” “You’re not helping.” “I’m not trying to,” he said. “I’m just being honest.”

Lily laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. “I don’t know you,” she said calmly. “I thought I did. I really thought I did.” She looked straight at him. “But I don’t. I was your secretary. We were married on paper. We shared a bed, yes. But we’ve been apart for seven years.” She stepped back. “You’re a stranger to me now. And who said I’ll marry a stranger? I’ll marry someone I know very well.”

“Stranger?” a reporter asked, his voice tinged with disbelief. The room buzzed with anticipation. Kiara could hear everyone gasping and wondering as they looked at her unblinkingly for the truth. “Yes, a stranger. He doesn’t even know who was his wife while he was forced at gunpoint to marry the girl!” Another revelation escaped out of her moths, causing the entire room to buzz with coherent whispers. “He has just taken a little help from a stranger and that proved to be his biggest mistake. That one help led him to a forced wedding the next morning.” She said, remembering the night as her eyes turned dim. It was all that fateful night’s help that twisted their lives forever.

He turned his back on me without a word and walked toward the stranger's car, climbing into the passenger seat and slamming the door. I froze, completely baffled. "What?" "Your husband is really a rude one," the stranger said, watching Navid through the windshield. He looked back at me, a playful glint in his eyes. "Why did you even marry that asshole?" I didn't know how to answer. I was still trying to process Navid's coldness, as well as the stranger's strangeness. Seeing my confusion, the stranger laughed, his face softening. He leaned down again, bringing our faces close.