I Married His Uncle

Chapter 4

"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Alexander watched the sleet streak across the windshield instead of answering my question. "Cora, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm calling off the engagement. I'm done with the Foster family. I already texted Henry. I'm not taking a single thing that came from the Foster family."

Alexander fell silent for a moment. "Leaving Henry isn't the same as walking away from the Foster family."

The car pulled over. He turned around and took an old metal tin from the back seat. I recognized that kind of tin immediately. It was the old-fashioned kind people used to keep things safe, the kind that had probably been sitting in a family cabinet for decades.

He opened the tin box. Inside were the restoration journals I had written over two years, carefully stacked and perfectly preserved. Not a single page was missing. Even the glaze sketches I had drawn absentmindedly were still there. The corners were worn soft, showing how many times they had been held and reread.

"Every letter you sent me is still here. I've kept them with me for four years. I moved three times and traveled overseas twice."

Alexander's voice remained steady, so steady it sounded like he was recounting someone else's past. "Four years ago, the day the cup was restored, I booked a restaurant and bought flowers. I wanted to ask if you would let me be the person who saw the rest of your life with you. Then you brought Henry. You told me he was your boyfriend."

The windshield wipers swept across the glass again and again. I couldn't find a single word.

"That night, I threw those flowers away three times. But in the end, I still put them in a vase in the living room." He smiled faintly, a smile full of self mockery. "Henry lost his parents when he was nine. I raised him myself. Whatever he wanted, I gave him. That time, I chose not to compete either. I thought he was younger, more carefree, more fun to be around. I thought you would smile more with him."

My voice shook. "And now..."

"Now he turned your feelings into a bet." Alexander looked at me, his eyes cold and deep like a lake frozen in winter. "Cora, I don't want to give you up anymore."

I lowered my head and looked at the first page of the journal inside the tin box. My handwriting from four years ago was still clear.

Mr. Foster, the 17th piece of the cup has been put back in place. It's finally complete.

Four years. Alexander had hidden his feelings beneath my handwriting for four years. He had waited until I wore Henry's engagement ring before finally leaving.

"I only ended my engagement today." I heard myself say. "If I marry you tomorrow, everyone in Crownbridge City will call me heartless."

"I'll take whatever they say." Alexander's voice stayed calm. "When it comes to the Foster family, I make the decisions. But Cora, I'm not negotiating with you." He paused. "I've waited four years. I don't want to spend another four years waiting."

I looked up from the tin box and met Alexander's eyes. He had saved me when my father's name was destroyed. He had saved me again when my studio was about to be taken away. He helped me every time without hesitation, yet never once asked me for anything.

But I couldn't pretend I deserved it. "I don't love you right now."

Alexander smiled, "I don't need you to love me right now. I'm a businessman. I believe the early bird gets the advantage."

For the first time, I admitted it to myself. Having someone stand behind me felt comforting.

"City Hall should be closed by now," I said.

Alexander started the engine. "I had them stay open."

The club was right beside the government district, and City Hall was only one street away. Thirty minutes later, we would legally become husband and wife.

The snow had stopped.

The clerk had been called in after hours. She barely dared look at us throughout the process. When she pressed the official stamp onto the documents, she only quietly said, "Congratulations."

Alexander opened the car door for me like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Honey, please."

I looked at him. Four years ago, the opening line of my letter had been: "Mr. Foster, I hope this letter finds you well."

"Mr. Foster," I said.

Inside the car, he handed me a document. It was the cancellation notice for the Prospera Culture transfer contract. Underneath it was a key.

"The studio key. Tomorrow morning, I'll go with you. We'll clean the plaque together. It stayed under my name this past year because I was keeping it safe for you. No rent."

I held the key and suddenly remembered something. "Alexander, when you bought it, weren't you worried I wouldn't leave Henry?"

"I was," he answered without hesitation. "That's why I had the agent add the three month restriction that nothing could be moved. If you stayed with Henry, I would return everything untouched and let his company use it to settle the debt. Think of it as a wedding gift to both of you."

"If you left him," he paused, starting the car, "then I would have a reason to find you first."

At that same moment, in the private room one street away, Henry stared at the four words on his phone. Half of his drunkenness disappeared instantly.

Felix leaned over, glanced at the screen, and laughed.

"See? What did I say? Women like that are all about money. A bet is a bet, Henry. Your watch belongs to me."

The next evening, the Foster family dinner was held at Foster's Mansion.

When Alexander walked through the door holding my hand, everyone at the table stood.

"Alexander is back? Why didn't you tell us before..."

Caroline stopped halfway through her sentence when she saw me. Her expression changed immediately. Alexander didn't give her a chance to speak.

"Let me introduce her." His voice wasn't loud, but the entire room fell silent. "This is Cora, my wife. From today onward, she is the lady of the Foster family."

The cup in Caroline's hand hit the edge of the table and cracked.

"Alexander, have you lost your mind? She's Henry's fiancée!"

"Ex fiancée." Alexander corrected calmly. "Henry's engagement ended the night before last."

"That still doesn't mean..."

"Caroline."

Alexander only said her name once, and Caroline's face instantly turned pale.

He walked over to the main seat and pulled out the chair beside him for me.

"Starting tomorrow, your roles in the three foundations under the Foster Group are suspended."

"Alexander, I'm only trying to protect Henry. I'm worried he'll be fooled by the wrong person."

"So am I." Alexander sat beside me, casually swirling the red wine in his glass. "I'm protecting Henry too. I don't want him spending the rest of his life bumping into uncomfortable moments."

A noise came from the entrance.

Henry was standing there, his coat still carrying the cold air from outside. I had no idea how much he had heard.

His eyes moved from me to Alexander. Then he suddenly laughed.

"Cora, enough. Stop this nonsense. Come home with me."

He stepped forward. Alexander lifted his hand and stopped him. There was no force behind it. If anything, it was almost polite.

"Henry, she's now your aunt."

Henry froze. "What?"

"Cora is my wife."