Baked Into Marriage

ChapterOne:TheProposal

Raya Quick didn’t believe in fate. Not anymore. Not after her fairytale collapsed in a nine-line text message, and a wedding dress hung like a ghost in her closet. But here she was, less than fourteen days after being dumped, standing in the City Registry office with a vanilla-scented cake box.

She was there to deliver a cake to a courthouse wedding while her dream was shattered.

Her phone rang in her dress pocket. She balanced the cake in one arm to answer.

“Sandy”, her voice cracked.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“You'll be pissed at me but I'm delivering a cake to the City Registry,” Raya said. “You won't believe how many weddings are happening today.”

“Raya, I told you to cut yourself some slack,” Sandy, her ride-or die, replied.

Sandy and Raya have always been there for each other since their college days. Their presence in each other’s lives feels inevitable. Back in college, when the dorm lights went out and fear crept in with the darkness, it was Sandy who stayed light-hearted, flashlight in hand, talking nonsense just to keep Raya from remembering she was afraid.

“Going to the City Registry will only disrupt your healing, my girl. Now, everyone’s getting married except the one who was actually engaged,” She continued.

Raya laughed at her humorless joke.

“Don't tell me you are wearing your survival uniform?” Sandy attempted to make her laugh.

Raya busted out in laughter. “It’s my comfort dress, Sandy. Leave my dress out of this.”

“Raya, you need to take my advice,” Sandy suddenly sounded serious over the phone.

“What advice?” Raya asked, looking confused.

“You need to open a dating app and start filtering for desperate grooms,” Sandy burst into laughter. “I bet your cousins are after your inheritance.”

The letter had come, the night she was dumped, from her late Uncle Gary’s lawyer. A thick envelope, wax-sealed, smelling like cedar and old books. Inside, it was her share of his little inheritance; a sizable bakery trust he’d built for her. The catch was that she had to be married within two months to claim it. And not just a quick ceremony—she had to be married for a minimum of sixty days.

“Stop laughing, Sandy. You know it still sounds like a romantic comedy to me,” she murmured. “Where do I begin to look for a husband to claim my inheritance? I need to pay for my loans. Like marrying someone last–minute is that simple. Moreover, I trust Jodi. She wouldn't come after my inheritance.”

Her stomach clenched at the word “husband”. The wound Alex left was still fresh, too fresh, but she didn't have the luxury of time to heal.

“And Ben?” Sandy asked. “Speaking of romantic comedies, you have to watch The Life List by Adam Brooks. Sofia Carson has to be the best out there.”

Raya opened her mouth to respond, but a sudden gust of wind hit her as the door beside her swung open, carrying the bold scent of expensive, masculine perfume.

She turned—and nearly dropped the cake. She ended the call abruptly on Sandy and observed a Greek god.

A tall, imposing, and supreme man in a black-tailored suit walked into the hallway. “Good-looking” was too lame a term for him. His presence hit the room like a thunderclap. Though very cold, he is an entire package— his innate aura of authority, a sculptured face that seems unforgettable, and the calm confidence of someone used to being watched. He walked like he owned everyone and everything.

Jack Fings, the young and ruthless billionaire CEO of Fings Company, was looking straight into her soul.

“Am I late?” he asked, walking towards her.

Raya blinked and glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else. But there was no one behind her, and that left her completely confused.

“—uh, I think you have the wrong —”

“You are here. That's what matters,” Jack cut her off.

He came to a stop in front of her, his cologne drifting through the air—subtle, but impossible to ignore. It was rich, dark, and expensive—the kind of scent that could make any woman forget what she was about to say.

“Let’s not waste time. You have the documents, right?”

“What? What documents?” Raya looked confused, wondering what was going on.

“Are you not Isabel?” Jack frowned, accentuating his sharp jawline.

“Isabel?” Raya blinked again, readjusting the cake on her hands. “No, I'm Raya.”

They locked eyes, and for a moment, something flickered behind Jack’s gaze, something unreadable. It wasn’t quite an interest, not exactly amusement, and maybe just a look too sharp to be anything but calculated.

Raya, still holding the cake box, was stunned by how quickly he adjusted. He didn't flinch. Instead, he looked her up and down, and slowly, deliberately tilted his head.

“You said your name is Raya?”

She nodded cautiously.

He glanced at her left hand. “You are not married.”

“Then, you have to be,” Jack said, with utmost authority.

“Excuse me?” Raya stared at him, stunned and angry.

He took a step closer.

“You’re standing here. You’re not Isabel. But you look like you’ve been crying for days and yet—you’re wearing lipstick. You answered your phone saying ‘Sandy,’ and I overheard you mention ”husband”, “loans,” and “inheritance.” Jack paused and stared into her eyes, making her feel intimidated.

“So I’m guessing you’re considering marrying for something other than love, young lady.”

Raya’s throat went dry.

“You've been eavesdropping on my conversation, haven't you?”

Jack gave a smug little smirk, the kind that said loud and clear, "What do you mean by that? Do you know who I am? I'm Jack Fings."

“Oh, you thought you were whispering? How cute.” Jack retorted rudely.

“And what are you proposing?” Raya asked.

“I need a wife,” Jack said plainly. “You need a husband, based on what I heard.”

She stared at him like he was insane and deluded.

“Marry me," Jack said, less like a question and more like an order, firm and unshakable, as if the outcome had already been decided.

“Are you serious? Who says “Marry me” to a stranger?”

He shrugged. “A man with no time to waste. You need something—money, inheritance, maybe even security. I need a PR-safe wife to protect my company from my board. Three months. A contract. Then we walk.”

Raya stepped back, heart racing. Her fingers were trembling as she looked at him. The cake box. The inheritance. The loans. The ache in her chest from Alex. The fact that her dream of a bakery could collapse if she didn’t act fast. The fact that Ben could be after her inheritance.

“Say yes,” Jack ordered, collecting the cake box from Raya.

Still confused, the word slipped from her lips before her brain caught up.

“…Okay.”

Jack blinked. Then gave a single nod. “Good. Follow me.”

Just like that, Raya followed a stranger into a courthouse office. Not to deliver a cake, but to marry a man she’d just met.

As the clerk began pulling out paperwork, Jack leaned closer and whispered, “Smile. They’re watching.”

The door opened.

Standing in the corner, snapping photos—was a reporter.

Raya’s heart plummeted. “Is he really Jack Fings, the media darling?”