Chapter 1: Marry Me
797 Words
The first time Lucien Kingston looked at me, he asked me to become his wife.
He hadn’t even introduced himself.
I should have laughed.
Instead, I forgot how to breathe.
…
“You have exactly four hours.”
The stranger’s deep voice cut through the silence of my father’s office.
Four hours?
I slowly turned around.
Three men dressed in black suits stood by the door.
Behind them was the tallest man I’d ever seen.
His charcoal suit looked like it had been tailored onto him. Dark hair. Sharp jaw. Expensive watch. The kind of quiet confidence that couldn’t be bought—it was inherited.
The room changed the moment he walked in.
Even the air felt heavier.
My father struggled to his feet.
“…Mr. Kingston.”
So this was him.
Lucien Kingston.
CEO of Kingston Holdings.
The billionaire newspapers called brilliant.
The businessman competitors called ruthless.
The man no one said no to.
“I apologize for the interruption.”
His voice was calm.
Controlled.
“I won’t take much of your time.”
He wasn’t looking at my father.
He was looking at me.
Not glancing.
Looking.
As if he’d walked into the room expecting to find me.
A strange chill crawled down my spine.
“I’m afraid we’re closed today,” I said.
“If you’re here about buying the company, the bank already—”
“I’m not here for the company.”
His answer came so quickly it caught me off guard.
“Then why are you here?”
His eyes never left mine.
“You.”
Silence.
I actually looked behind me to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else.
“There must be some mistake.”
“There isn’t.”
“I’ve never met you.”
“No.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
Something about the certainty in his voice unsettled me.
It wasn’t arrogance.
It was certainty.
As if he’d already decided how this conversation would end.
My father cleared his throat.
“What exactly do you want, Mr. Kingston?”
Lucien finally looked away from me.
“I’ll pay every debt owed by Lawson Construction.”
My father’s face drained of color.
“What?”
“I’ll settle every outstanding loan.”
I stared at him.
Nobody spent hundreds of millions to rescue a collapsing construction company.
Not without expecting something impossible in return.
My father seemed to reach the same conclusion.
“What do you want?”
Lucien accepted a leather folder from one of his assistants.
He placed it on the desk.
Opened it.
Removed a single document.
Then…
He slid it toward me.
Not my father.
Me.
I frowned.
At the top of the page, written in bold letters, were two words.
MARRIAGE AGREEMENT
I looked up so quickly the chair scraped against the floor.
“I’m sorry?”
“You heard correctly.”
I laughed.
A short, incredulous laugh.
“This is some kind of joke.”
“I don’t joke.”
“You expect me to marry you?”
“I expect you to consider the proposal.”
“We’re strangers.”
“Correct.”
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Unlikely.”
His expression never changed.
“I’m simply working within a deadline.”
“What deadline?”
For the first time, something flickered across his face.
Not fear.
Pressure.
“I must be married before midnight.”
I blinked.
“…What?”
“If I’m not…”
He paused.
“I lose everything.”
That made no sense.
A billionaire like Lucien Kingston couldn’t lose everything.
Unless…
There was far more to this story than anyone knew.
I pushed the contract back toward him.
“I’m sorry about your deadline.”
“But I’m not marrying a man I’ve known for less than five minutes.”
“I anticipated that answer.”
He reached into the folder again.
This time he placed a second document beside the contract.
My father gasped.
I looked down.
It was the official foreclosure order for Lawson Construction.
Stamped in red across the bottom were the words:
TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP
Effective: 12:00 A.M. Tonight.
My heartbeat slowed.
Midnight.
The same deadline.
I looked back at Lucien.
His gaze softened almost imperceptibly.
“If you refuse…”
His voice remained maddeningly calm.
“…your father loses everything tonight.”
He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Then, without breaking eye contact, he placed a black velvet ring box on top of the contract.
The lid clicked open.
A flawless diamond caught the light.
His next words stole every coherent thought from my mind.
“Marry me, Sienna.”
“And by sunrise…”
“…the whole city will believe you always belonged to me.”
- Writer
