Chapter 1 Whirlwind Vows

Washington, D.C.

In a coffee shop, Vivienne Quinn sat down across from the man she’d agreed to go on a blind date with. She was astonished to see him in person.

He was unexpectedly handsome. His facial features were impeccable, and even the way he sat exuded an air of regality.

This was Vivienne’s tenth blind date in the past three months. She didn’t have any say in it-if she didn’t go on the dates, her mother would go on a hunger strike and probably die of stubbornness.

The man in front of her now left all nine other men in the dust.

But that wasn’t important. After that many blind dates, Vivienne was determined to get straight to the point. “When do you plan to get married?”

She’d thought about it before she arrived. If her date’s conditions weren’t too extreme, she would go straight to marriage, and skip the entire dating process. Besides, wasn’t the dating part meant to lead to marriage, anyway?

Her mother was threatening suicide every three days. If Vivienne just got married, maybe she’d finally be able to live in peace.

The man looked taken aback, but he smiled. “We’ve just met. Direct, aren’t you?”

His smile was unusually bright, like the sun in March. Vivienne forced herself to keep a neutral expression. “I almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Vivienne.

“You probably heard about my situation from the person who spoke to you on the dating website. I’m 25 and a freelance worker, and I set up a stall at the night market selling jewelry pieces. I make about 50K a year, and I support both my mother and myself at home. I’ve dated several other men, but I’m currently single and healthy, with no bad habits like smoking.” Then she added, “I’m looking to get married.”

Her mother had forced her to go on this blind date today, and her mother had also found this man on a dating website. She’d figured her mother had just set her up with another weird, unattractive man, or maybe some old guy with a beer belly and a bad attitude.. There were a lot of unreliable dating sites, and Vivienne had seen enough to know that it was rare to meet a, well, normal man.

The man seemed to immediately understand Vivienne’s situation after she introduced herself. His lips curled into a smile, and his voice was warm and mellow. “Someone else introduced you to me? You weren’t worried that I was some kind of catfish?”

“Marriage is a gamble.” Vivienne pursed her lips. “This is my tenth. blind date. I heard you’re a local who works the Skyreach Group, and your parents passed away. You’re honest, down-to-earth, hardworking, eager to get married… Your last name is Smith…?”

Smith… Vivienne had forgotten the rest. She hadn’t paid much attention to what her mother had been saying about the man before she left.

“Damien Smyth, with a Y,” the man smiled again. “Yes, I work here. in Washington, D.C. I’m renting a house, and I drive a Chevrolet. I’ ve got a stable income, and I’m also currently single and healthy, with no bad habits.”

Vivienne took out her birth certificate and glanced at Damien. “Mr. Smyth, would you like to come to City Hall with me to get a marriage license? I don’t need any of your money to support myself, so there’s no need for a joint account, or a dowry and wedding. Let’s just keep it simple and get the license.”

Well, the first thing she needed to do was get her mother out of the picture. After that, she could take everything else one step at a time, depending on how well things went.

Most of her friends were already dating or married, and most of them were happy in their relationships. None of it seemed too interesting.

Damien tapped his fingers on the back of his other hand, thoughtful. He thought about what Vivienne had said. Why was this woman, with all her financial considerations, so anxious to get married that she brought her own birth certificate to a blind date?

He was turning 30 this year, and his own family was pressing him to get married.

“Do you mind that I don’t own a house? You may be getting more than you asked for if you marry me.”

“I don’t own a house either,” Vivienne said. “Without parents to help out financially, it’s rare for people to buy their own houses by the age of 30. I understand it. As long as you’re a hard worker with character, nothing’s impossible.”

She was well aware of the housing prices in D.C. Being an ordinary girl with no impressive background or skills of her own, she doubted she could expect too much of her partner.

She kept staring at him. After a long moment, Damien picked up his phone and made a call. “Send my identity documents to City Hall for me.”

An hour later, Vivienne and Damien walked out of City Hall, looking down at the marriage certificate in their hands. Vivienne suddenly realized how crazy she was to have done this.

She’d just married a man an hour after meeting him for the first time.

Damien saw her expression out of the corner of his eye, and the corners of his mouth tilted up. “Bit too late to change your mind.”

Vivienne tucked the certificate away and shook her head firmly. “No regrets, Mr. Smyth. I’m going to work now, and you should too.”

Just like that, we got married, and we’re already splitting up?

Did this woman really come here just to get the wedding certificate and go? Were they just going their separate ways now?

As Vivienne hurriedly turned to leave, Damien spoke up. “You never gave me your number. How can I contact you later?”

Embarrassed, Vivienne pulled out her phone, and the two of them added each other on Whatsapp. Damien sent her his phone number.

“Call me if you need anything.”

This was Damien’s personal number. Vivienne glanced at his phone out of the corner of her eye, noticing that he’d changed her contact name to ‘Wife.’

“Okay.” There was something strange about it all, she thought. She was a married woman now?

She’d thought about just leaving his contact information as his name, but after seeing the word wife, she hesitated. My Mr. Smyth, she typed in.

Damien was about to say he’d walk her back when his phone suddenly rang. The words died on his lips, and he instead said, “Have a safe trip.”

Vivienne nodded and hailed a cab by the side of the road to leave, and Damien watched her go.

Not long after, a Rolls Royce stopped beside him and the man in it rolled down the window.