I Married My Enemy

Chapter 3 · The Wedding That Was Not a Wedding

The wedding took place in a government office on Centre Street, in a room with fluorescent lights and beige walls. No white gown, no flowers, no champagne, no five hundred guests. Evelyn wore a simple white sheath dress she had bought at Bloomingdales the day before. It cost four hundred dollars, less than the dry cleaning bill for her engagement party gown.

Alexander wore a charcoal suit, crisp and expensive, but he had not bothered with a tie. His shirt was open at the collar, a small concession to the informality of the occasion.

"Do you, Evelyn Marie Shaw, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

The words hung in the sterile air. Evelyn looked at Alexander. He looked back. There was no warmth in his eyes but there was something else.

"I do."

"And do you, Alexander David Pierce, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife." The clerk smiled a tired smile. "You may kiss the bride."

Alexander leaned in. His lips brushed her cheek, barely a touch. Formality, not romance.

The clerk slid the marriage certificate across the counter. "You are now legally married."

Evelyn picked up the certificate and looked at it. Evelyn Shaw. Evelyn Pierce. One signature had changed her name.

"Ready?" Alexander asked.

"Ready."

They walked out of the building together into a wall of reporters. The news had leaked. There were no secrets in New York, only information that had not yet been priced in.

"Mr. Pierce! Is it true you married Julian Blackwood's fiancee?"

"Mrs. Pierce! How do you feel about your marriage after your engagement party?"

"Does your father support this union?"

Alexander stopped. His arm went around Evelyn's waist, pulling her close. "Evelyn Pierce is my wife. I would appreciate it if you would respect our privacy as we begin our life together."

"Is this about revenge against the Blackwood family?"

Alexander's smile did not reach his eyes. "This is about love."

He guided Evelyn into the waiting car. The door closed, muffling the shouts. The car pulled away.

"That was a lie," Evelyn said.

"Which part?"

"The part about love."

Alexander did not reply. He watched the city roll past the window. "We have to perform. That is the deal. We perform in public. We perform for the press. We perform for your father and Julian and everyone watching."

"And in private?"

"In private, we do whatever we need to do to survive."

The penthouse felt different now that she was officially living there. The guest room had become her room. She had rearranged the furniture, hung her clothes in the closet, put her books on the shelf. It was starting to feel like hers.

Mrs. Chen, the housekeeper, had prepared dinner. Braised pork belly, steamed fish, stir-fried greens, and soup. The table was set for two.

"Mrs. Chen has been with me for seven years," Alexander said, sitting down. "She is trustworthy."

"Why did you marry me?" Evelyn asked.

"The contract explains it."

"I want to hear you say it."

Alexander set down his chopsticks. "Because I need someone who can get close to Julian Blackwood and his father. Someone who knows their weaknesses. Someone who has a personal stake in their destruction."

"And you think I am that person?"

"I know you are."

"Because I hate Julian?"

"Because you loved Julian. Or at least, you tried to. Love and hate are the same emotion. They both give you energy."

"You do not believe in love."

"I believe in results."

"That is not the same thing."

"No," Alexander agreed. "It is not."

That night, Evelyn lay awake staring at the ceiling. She heard Alexander moving around in the living room, the soft click of his laptop closing, the clink of a glass being set down. She got up and walked to the doorway. He was sitting on the couch with a glass of whiskey, staring at the Manhattan skyline.

"Can I join you?"

He gestured to the empty seat beside him.

She sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest. They watched the city lights in silence.

"Are you scared?" she asked.

"Every day."

"Of what?"

"Of failing. Of waking up in ten years and realizing I sacrificed everything for nothing."

"And if you succeed?"

"Then I will have to figure out who I am without revenge."

Evelyn thought about that. "I know the feeling. I spent four years defining myself by Julian. I forgot what I wanted."

"And now?"

"Now I do not know what I want. But I know what I do not want. That is a start."

Alexander looked at her. In the dim light, his face seemed softer. "Thank you. For being honest. For not pretending this is something it is not."

"Thank you for giving me a choice. Even if it was not much of one."

"It was a choice. And you made it."

"I did."

They sat together until the sky began to lighten, two strangers bound by contract and vengeance, beginning to see each other.

The next morning, Evelyn woke to find a black Amex card on her nightstand with a note: "Buy whatever you need. We have appearances to keep."

She took the card. She bought a new wardrobe, shoes, handbags, jewelry. She spent the money like she was trying to fill the hollow space inside her.

She called her mother at noon.

"Evelyn, is it true?"

"Yes, Mom."

"How could you? Without telling me? Without telling your father?"

"Because it was my choice. For the first time in my life."

Eleanor was silent. "Your father wants to see you."

"Tell him I will be there when I am ready."

"And when will that be?"

"When he is ready to tell me the truth about ten years ago."

The silence on the other end of the line was louder than words.

"Mom?"

"I will tell him."

The line went dead. The war had begun.