Chapter 2 Register For Marriage

Kate approached the car slowly and carefully got in. The leather passenger seat felt divine against her back and skin.

And the car looked new and high end. Was she sitting next to a rich man?

Kate was a little surprised, but soon she came back to her senses. She took out a crumpled piece of paper from her bag and spread it out. "By the way, we have to make an agreement before we get married. I wrote this. Read it and point out anything you think is unreasonable."

With that, she handed the paper to Brian who was driving.

Brian took it and glanced at the paper.

Although the piece of paper looked battered, the handwriting on it was good and neat.

The traffic light turned red, and Brian slowly pulled the car to a stop. He then read through it and found the agreement to be reasonable enough. It was good that Kate bothered to write up an agreement before they got hitched. With it, they would be able to avoid irreparable problems in the future.

"If there's no problem, we can sign it before we apply for the marriage certificate." Kate pointed at the blank line on the paper opposite her name, which she had already signed.

Then Kate handed him a pen she had prepared.

Her every move was so smooth that it seemed that she had done this tens of thousands of times before.

Brian took the pen and signed his name. Then, he asked casually, "When did you write this agreement?"

"Two years ago," Kate answered without hesitation. After a moment, she realized that her straight answer might have made her look a little desperate, so she quickly saved face, smiled, and added, "I just like practicing my handwriting when I'm bored."

When Brian finished signing his name, he handed the paper and pen back to Kate and fixed his dark eyes on her. He did not say anything. He just watched her carefully and curiously.

Kate was stunned to see Brian's eyes up close. They were dark like the night before dawn. Looking at them, she immediately felt lost.

Unknown to Kate, Brian was trying to stare through her like an X-ray.

Feeling embarrassed by Brian's stare, Kate turned to look straight ahead. It was only then that she realized that her heart was pounding wildly against her ribcage, but she could not be sure if she was scared or simply nervous.

They drove in silence until they arrived at the local civil affairs bureau.

The procedure was very simple. They just signed their names and then got the red marriage certificate. Kate held it tightly in her hand. In that moment, she found herself in a trance. She really got married today.

Earlier, when Kate was about to sign her name, she felt an indescribable feeling that was all new to her. She just stared at the document for a long time. If Brian had not nudged her, she probably would not have come back to her senses.

Getting married was supposed to be the happiest moment in a woman's life, but Kate seemed to have experienced it very simply. She knew she was supposed to feel elated, but she did not feel anything remotely close. At this point, Kate was not sure if she felt nothing at all or everything at once. It was confusing.

Kate pinched her face and felt no pain. Then, she used a little more force.

"Ahhh!" Kate cried out in pain. She pinched her left cheek, but why did her right cheek hurt?

'Maybe... It's a ghost!' Kate froze and looked straight ahead. It was a warm day, but a gust of cold wind caressed her back.

'God, could there be a ghost in the civil affairs bureau like in the movies? But my right cheek doesn't feel cold.

Well, how could a ghost be warm?'

After thinking for a while, Kate finally mustered the courage and looked sideways. She saw that the man next to her, who was a head taller than her, was looking down at her with a faint sneer on his lips.

"Are you regretting it already?" Brian opened his thin lips and asked in a leisure voice, and his hand was still pinching her right cheek.

"Regretting what? Get your hand off me!" Kate hastily waved Brian's hand off her face. She pressed a palm against her cheek, still feeling his grip, and glared at him.

Hearing Kate's words, Brian withdrew his hand. As he turned around to leave, he smirked at her and said, "I hope you know what you're doing. Your being impetuous won't get us anywhere we'll relish to be in."

He spoke firmly, not allowing his new wife to refute.

Kate did not say anything because Brian was right. She really felt a little regret in her heart.

'You can do this! Don't be afraid!' Kate clenched her fists, feeling the burning desire in her heart. In order to be able to live happily with Sherry and get everybody to stop badgering her to get married, she would have to pay this small price.

While thinking, she caught up with Brian.

"I'm not on your way, and I'm sure you can find your way home on your own. I'll see you soon. Bye." Brian got in the car and slammed the door. He squinted at Kate who was about to open the passenger-side door. He spoke so casually that it hit a nerve in Kate.

Kate's hand on the door froze. She looked at her new husband who was sitting comfortably in the driver's seat and looking at her with an indifferent expression. Obviously, he was telling her to get lost.

"Okay. Take care." Kate took her hand back, squinted, and smiled sweetly. Her voice was as sweet as a bell, but it did not seem to affect Brian.

The man rolled up the window and gunned the engine. Then, he drove away. His car must either be new or well maintained. It did not make a sound as it sped away.

As soon as Brian left, Kate's smiling face twisted into an ugly frown. She furiously stared at his car, which was now a considerable distance away, and threw a crumpled piece of waste paper at it. Then, she sighed in exasperation.

Originally, Kate had a good impression of Brian, but now her good impression of him had dropped significantly. If this were an exam, she would only give him forty points, and that was not enough to pass.

"Miss?" While Kate was boiling with anger, a man approached her.

"What's the matter?" Kate was definitely not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. She glanced at the stranger who looked to be in his thirties.

"You're being ticketed because you littered just now. It's not allowed here." The man handed her a ticket. The words written there said that littering merited a one-hundred-dollar fine.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

The imaginary crows hovering overhead made her ears ring.

Kate left home in a hurry today, so she was not able to bring much money with her. Fortunately, she was able to pay the one-hundred-dollar fine after rummaging through her bag. As a result, she was left with absolutely no money and had no choice but to walk to work in her five-inch heels.

She had to be at work in the afternoon. After finally making it to the office, Kate felt her entire body burn, not just her legs and calves. It made her wonder why she kept walking around in high heels.

"Oh, finally! I thought you weren't going to show up today." Lora, her colleague, stared at her while she desperately held on to the office door for support. She struggled to catch her breath.

Not many people knew that Lora's real name was not Lora. Every time somebody asked about her real name, she just told how she liked the name "Lora" since she was a little girl. Everyone in the office simply called her Lora.

"Please help me, Lora." Kate raised her head and staggered forward, one hand braced against the wall for support and the other trembling and reaching to Lora.

Lora looked at Kate with contempt, but she still went and took her hand. She helped her walk to her work station.

As soon as her butt hit her comfortable office chair, Kate's whole body relaxed. She leaned her back on her chair and spread her tired legs in front of her. She honestly could not remember a time when her office chair felt so divine. In fact, she used to complain about it a lot.

"Why did you ask for a leave this morning?" Lora's desk was next to Kate's, so they always talked conveniently to each other.

Kate slowly turned her head to Lora and answered, "I went to register for marriage."

"Humph!" Lora snorted derisively. Obviously, she did not buy what Kate just said.

"Really? Is the world coming to an end then?" Lora smirked at Kate and waited for her answer.

'What is Lora saying? Does she mean that my chances of getting married are so slim that I can only get married if the world is ending? What kind of friend says that?'

Kate kept silent and just continued to relax on her chair. She met Lora in college. They were in the same class, but they were not familiar with each other that time.

They were somewhere between acquaintances and strangers.

Then, after finding themselves working in the same company, they had become good friends and had learned to rely on each other. Although Lora could be a little cocky and narcissistic, her loyalty was boundless, and Kate valued loyal friends.

However, with her calves feeling like they were burning from the inside out, Kate did not feel like explaining to Lora. Anyway, she was not lying. She really got married before showing up to work today.

"I heard that our CEO is devastatingly handsome." Without getting any reply from Kate, Lora decided to jump to her favorite piece of office gossip.

But Kate ignored her. They started working together two months ago. Since their first day in the company, Lora had been talking about Li Group's supposedly gorgeous CEO who was also one of the most eligible bachelors in Z City.

As time went by, Lora's information about Li Group's CEO grew not only suspiciously exaggerated but also awfully accurate down to his height and weight and his string of past girlfriends.

As Lora enthusiastically blabbed on about their boss, Kate kept both her ears open so that Lora's voice would just enter through one and exit through the other. She did not want to shut her friend down or give her the cold shoulder.

There was one time when Kate said something. She asked, "Lora, have you ever seen him?"

Lora's face then turned from ridiculously excited to frighteningly grim. Her body, which was almost waving and dancing, also stiffened. In the end, she just looked pitifully at Kate like a deflated beach ball.

The truth was that neither of them had ever seen the legendary CEO before. Since they were low-ranking employees in the company, they were not eligible to attend the annual staff meeting.

Legends could only be legends.

"Hello, hello! The director is here!"

Hearing the sudden announcement of the director's arrival, Kate immediately straightened up. She took out a piece of tissue and wiped her desk clean. She sat properly on her chair despite her leg muscles barking in protest.

The director clapped his hands, and all the staff in the office immediately looked up at him.