The billionaire Accidental bride

chapter 1

Natalie’s POV

My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned stark white, the engine idling loudly in the suffocating heat of my car. On the passenger seat beside me lay my resume—crisp, pristine, and representing every single dream I had ever dared to nurse. I was on my way to **Vance Enterprises** to submit my CV, praying with every breath in my body for just *one* shot. Just one chance to be in the same building as him.

*Gavin.*

He was a titan. A man far above my world, a man I had pined for from afar until my heart felt bruised by the sheer impossibility of it.

"Please, God," I whispered into the quiet car, closing my eyes for a fraction of a second to pray. "Just let them glance at my application. Just let him see me."

I pressed my foot down on the gas pedal, pulling out into the road. But my mind was spinning, my focus splintered between my desperate prayers and the overwhelming nerves fluttering in my chest.

*I didn't see him.*

It happened in a brutal, horrifying flash. A shadow stepped into the street. The sickening *thud* of metal against human flesh echoed through the cabin.

"No, no, NO!" I screamed, slamming my foot onto the brake.

The car shrieked to a halt. My heart leaped into my throat, hammering violently against my ribs as sheer terror paralyzed me. I threw the door open and scrambled out, the world turning into a blurry nightmare.

There, crumpled on the cold pavement, lay a man in a tailor-made suit. Blood pool beneath his head, staining the asphalt.

I fell to my knees beside him, breathless, hysterical. *"Oh God, please no, please wake up!"*

I gasped as I brushed the dark hair away from his face. My soul froze.

It was **Gavin.**

The very man I loved from the shadows. The man whose attention I had begged the universe for just moments ago. And I had just struck him down with my car.

"Help! Somebody, please help me!" I shrieked, my voice breaking as I desperately looked around the quiet street. Tears spilled down my cheeks, blinding me. "Please! He's dying!"

Footsteps thundered toward us. One of his personal bodyguards, who had been trailing behind, lunged forward with a look of pure horror.

"What happened?!" the guard roared, his eyes wide with panic.

"I—I don't know!" I lied instinctively, the sheer dread of prison and ruin seizing my lungs. "I saw him hit by a car! Someone hit him and sped off! Please, we have to hurry, help me get him to the hospital!"

Together, driven by adrenaline and panic, we lifted Gavin's limp, heavy body into the back seat. Every second felt like an eternity. Every drop of his blood on my hands felt like an unforgivable mark of guilt.

Hours stretched into a agonizing abyss.

I paced back and forth outside the operating theater, rubbing my trembling hands together, unable to wash away the phantom feeling of his blood on my skin. I prayed as I had never prayed before—begging for his life, offering my own in exchange if only his eyes would open again.

Finally, the glowing red light above the doors flickered off.

After the surgical team wrapped up, I was summoned into the chief doctor's office. My legs felt like lead as I walked in.

"Sit down, ma'am," the doctor said smoothly, looking up from her clipboards. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Doctor," I stammered, grabbing the edge of her desk just to keep myself upright. "How... how is he? Is he going to live? Please tell me he’s okay."

The doctor lowered her glasses, examining my distraught face. She ignored my frantic questions for a second before asking coldly, "Who are you to the patient? Are you a relative?"

The air vanished from my lungs. If I said I was a stranger, if I admitted I hit him, they would call the police. I would be dragged away in handcuffs, branded a monster. Gavin's family would destroy me.

Panic overtook reason.

"I'm... I'm his girlfriend," I gasped out, the lie burning the back of my throat like acid. *"I'm his girlfriend."*

The doctor’s tense posture softened slightly, nodding in understanding. "I see. Whoever hit him with that vehicle is an absolute heartless monster. To leave a man like him bleeding in the street..."

Her words stabbed through my heart like a hot blade. I squeezed my eyes shut, choking down a sob.

"The good news is, the surgery was successful and he is stable," the doctor continued. "However... the blunt force trauma to his head was severe. He has suffered temporary amnesia."

My heart stopped. *"What?"* I breathed.

"He has lost some of his memories," the doctor explained gently. "It is likely temporary, but right now, he is fragile. He will need intense, loving care to recover. I hope you are ready to stand by him, miss. As his girlfriend, he is going to need you now more than ever."

"Yes... yes, ma'am," I whispered, barely recognizing my own voice. "Thank you, ma'am."

I dragged my feet down the quiet, sterile hallway toward his private ward. My conscience was screaming at me, tearing my soul into shreds.

*You're a liar. A coward. How are you going to look him in the eye? How are you going to lie to his powerful family when they arrive?*

I pushed the door open softly.

Gavin lay in the center of the room, hooked up to monitors that beeped softly in the dim light. Bandages were wrapped around his head, but even in this broken state, his face was impossibly handsome. Sculpted, fierce, yet utterly vulnerable.

I stepped closer to the bedside, reaching out a trembling hand, hovering just inches over his cheek.

> *"I always wished for us to be close,"* I whimpered into the quiet room, tears streaming freely down my face now. *"I spent so many nights wishing you would just notice me... but I never wanted it like this. How do I tell you the truth? How do I tell you that the girl standing beside you is the monster who almost ended your life?"*

>

I covered my face with my hands, sobbing silently. I couldn't do it. My conscience wouldn't let me keep this up. I had to confess. The second he woke up, I would tell him everything, accept the consequences, and go to prison if I had to—

A soft rustle of bedsheets broke the silence.

I froze.

Gavin’s long eyelashes fluttered, and slowly, his deep, dark eyes opened. He blinked against the harsh fluorescent lights, looking disoriented and pained.

"Y-You're awake!" I gasped, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs as his gaze slowly shifted... and locked directly onto mine.

"Hold on—don't move, I'll get the doctor!" I turned on my heel and bolted out the door, sprinting down the corridor toward the doctor's office. "He's awake! Doctor, please, he's open his eyes!"

The doctor immediately stood up and rushed back to the room with me, two nurses trailing close behind.

We burst into the ward. Gavin was leaning back against his pillows, a deep frown creasing his brow as he looked around the sterile room.

"Where... where am I?" Gavin’s voice was gravelly, low, and laced with confusion. He wreathed his hands in the bedsheets, looking bewildered. "What happened to me?"

The doctor stepped forward with a warm, reassuring smile, shining a tiny light into his eyes to check his pupils.

"You are in the hospital, sir," the doctor replied gently, before gesturing toward me with a wide smile. "You had a very serious accident, but you're safe now. You should thank this good-hearted young lady here who saved your life and brought you to us..."

The doctor smiled fondly at me, delivering the final blow that sealed my fate.

"...your girlfriend."