The Marriage Effect Novels & Stories

Annoyed at how messy it looked, she muttered, "I'm not hungry." Elijah frowned, clearly displeased by her response. "Do you know the essence of marriage?" he asked. Marcia shook her head. "You've said it yourself—marriage is pointless. If someone's going to cheat, they'll cheat regardless!" Elijah was speechless for a moment. He flicked her forehead lightly and said, "Is that what you took away from my words last night?" Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he added with a subtle tone, "The essence of marriage is three meals a day and sharing a bed at night. Four things, no more, no less."

"Without a word. Without an explanation. Do you have any idea what that did to me? To us?" Her eyes didn't budge. "There was no 'us,' Kai. There never was." The words hit me like a perfectly placed slap, but I wasn't backing down. "You expect me to believe that? After everything we shared, everything we- "Don't romanticize it," she cut in, her razor-sharp voice slicing into my thoughts. "Our marriage was a contract. Nothing more." I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, and I straightened in my chair. "A contract?"

I allowed myself a slow exhalation, fingers tapping lightly against the armrest. Marriage. Most men would see it as political theater. A strategic absurdity. But Alejandro Cortes would understand. Marriage was not symbolism. For us made men, marriage was ownership. Access, proximity, and above all, control. Not just over territory, but over the man himself. Because power was easiest to dismantle from the inside. And Alejandro Cortes was a fortress worth breaching. My smile lingered in the darkness. He hadn’t said no. And men like us— We both knew what that meant.

"Now that is the only thing that put our marriage to asunder. He has the money, he should get a cook." Ema folded his arms as he wondered how much of a problem the contract marriage would turn out to be. Their house would have a chimney, he thought. Arguing morning and night, day in and day out would rent their marital home in flames. The chimney would help with emitting all of the heat. "Since you won't be working, you should try and be a nice little housewife." Ema told her dryly. "A nice little housewife? Seriously?" Lila was waving the fork dangerously now and Ema feared she would pierce her spotless face or even her pretty eyes with it.

I asked, presuming the worst. "No," he said, amusement audible in his voice. "We have… a different type of work to do." "Like what?" My mind restlessly processed through the issues I might have forgotten about. "Our wedding." He chuckled. "Oh…" Was it weird that I stopped thinking about the fact that we needed to actually get married to become husband and wife? Contractual married looked a whole lot simpler in romances and dramas. Two people went to the registry office, signed papers, got their stamps, and were married. Aren needed proof that our relationship was genuine, although I still wasn't sure how far he was willing to go to prove that. Luckily, we had no problems with our intimacy an

Ash lingered on to that kiss because he didn't remember the last time his lips had touched Bright'. "Bright...what are you doing?", he protested as Bright pulled Ash by his shirt and kissed his neck. Ash closed his eyes and sighed because he was failing miserably at keeping Bright away. "We've been married for a month now, Ash. A month of tolerating each other's ridiculous behaviour. We deserve us an Emmy", Bright chuckled. Ash sighed. He was so turned on by his husband.

His deep, mysterious eyes flickered with an emotion I couldn't quite place. He stood there, speechless for what felt like forever. I stared at his face, so close to mine, and found myself lost in thought. He was undeniably handsome—he had strong features but not harsh, with an aura of quiet intensity. Yet, even facing such a breathtaking man, I felt nothing. "Noah, our marriage was always about business. There's no need to overthink it. "I've known about you and Lillian for a while now. You know what you should and shouldn't do. Grandpa cares a lot about the Brookes' reputation."