Chapter 3: Married to a Stranger
1377 Words
Bonny’s POV
My heels clicked against the polished floor as I followed Adrian Knight into the magistrate’s office.
Everything around me felt unreal.
Only an hour ago, I had arrived here dreaming of marrying the man I loved. Now I was walking beside the city’s most feared billionaire, preparing to marry a stranger whose last name was printed on half the skyline.
I should have been terrified.
Instead, I felt numb.
The receptionist behind the front desk looked up with a practiced smile, but the moment her eyes landed on Adrian, her expression changed completely.
“Mr. Knight,” she said quickly, standing up so fast her chair rolled backward. “We weren’t expecting you so soon.”
“You were expecting me today,” Adrian replied coolly.
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
Her eyes moved to me.
Then to my wedding dress.
Then to my tear-streaked face.
Then back to Adrian.
She wisely said nothing.
“We’re ready,” he said.
“Right this way.”
She led us down a narrow hallway into a private office where an older woman in glasses sat behind a desk stacked with papers. She glanced up, recognized Adrian, and immediately stood.
“Mr. Knight.”
“Let’s proceed.”
The woman looked at me over the rim of her glasses.
“Are you here willingly, miss?”
I nearly laughed.
Willingly was a complicated word.
Still, I nodded.
“Yes.”
She studied me for another second, perhaps noticing the ruined mascara and trembling hands, but she did not comment.
“Please sit.”
Adrian sat first, calm and composed like this was another business meeting. I sat beside him, trying not to notice how expensive he smelled or how broad his shoulders looked up close.
The official cleared her throat.
“State your full names for the record.”
“Adrian Alexander Knight.”
His voice was steady, powerful.
“Bonny Elise Hart.”
Mine sounded small.
The woman flipped through documents.
“Do both parties understand this is a legal union entered freely and without coercion?”
“Yes,” Adrian said immediately.
I hesitated.
Adrian’s gaze shifted toward me.
The woman waited.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
Was I making the biggest mistake of my life?
Probably.
Was returning to the life I had before any better?
No.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
The ceremony began.
It was short. Efficient. Clinical.
No flowers.
No music.
No vows written from the heart.
No smiling groom looking lovingly into my eyes.
Just signatures, official wording, and the sound of my old life closing behind me.
When it was time to exchange rings, I froze.
I had none.
Adrian reached into his pocket and produced a simple platinum band as if he had anticipated everything.
Of course he had.
He slid the ring onto my finger with cool, steady hands.
Then I shakily placed the matching ring onto his.
The official stamped the papers.
“Congratulations,” she said.
I stared at her.
She might as well have announced the weather.
Adrian rose first and buttoned his jacket.
“Send copies to legal.”
“Yes, Mr. Knight.”
Then he looked down at me.
“Mrs. Knight.”
The words hit me like thunder.
Mrs. Knight.
I stood so abruptly my chair scraped loudly across the floor.
The official flinched.
“Right,” I muttered. “Still adjusting.”
Adrian turned and walked out.
I hurried after him.
Outside, the receptionist gave me a sympathetic look mixed with curiosity.
I ignored it.
The sunlight outside was blinding after the fluorescent office lights. I paused on the courthouse steps, staring at the city moving around us like nothing had changed.
But everything had changed.
I was married.
Again—well, finally.
Just not to the man I expected.
A sleek black car pulled up to the curb the moment Adrian stepped outside. The driver got out instantly and opened the rear door.
“Home, sir?” the driver asked.
“No. Penthouse first.”
He looked at me.
“Get in.”
I crossed my arms.
“You ask things like you’re ordering furniture.”
“You prefer I leave you here?”
I got in.
The interior of the car was larger than my bedroom. Soft leather seats, tinted windows, chilled bottled water in a compartment, and a faint scent of cedar.
I touched nothing.
Adrian sat across from me, reading emails on his phone as if he had not just married someone ten minutes ago.
“You always this relaxed after life-changing events?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s unsettling.”
“I’ve been told.”
I looked out the window.
The city blurred past.
My phone buzzed in my purse.
I already knew who it was.
Seth Calling
My stomach twisted.
I rejected it.
Then another call.
And another.
Adrian glanced up. “Persistent.”
“My ex-fiancé.”
“Then block him.”
Easy for him to say.
The phone rang again.
Then a message.
Bonny, answer me. We need to talk.
Then another.
Amelia is causing drama. It’s not what you think.
I barked out a bitter laugh.
Adrian raised one eyebrow.
“Liars hate consequences,” I said.
He went back to his phone.
Another message arrived.
Where are you?
Without thinking, I took a photo of my left hand wearing Adrian’s ring.
Then sent it.
No caption.
I stared at the screen, adrenaline surging through me.
Two seconds later, Seth called again.
Then again.
Then again.
I blocked him.
Adrian lowered his phone slowly.
“That was impulsive.”
“So was marrying you.”
For the first time, he gave a genuine smile.
It changed his entire face.
Sharp. Dangerous. Unfairly attractive.
Then it vanished.
The car entered an underground parking garage and stopped beside a private elevator.
We stepped out.
“This way.”
The elevator opened directly into a penthouse so enormous I stopped walking.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city skyline. Marble floors gleamed beneath soft lighting. Art hung on walls that probably cost more than houses. Everything was elegant, controlled, expensive.
And cold.
No family photos.
No warmth.
No life.
“Do you live here alone?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“It shows.”
He removed his watch.
“Your room is down the hall.”
“My room?”
“You didn’t think we’d share one.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. “I didn’t think anything, actually.”
“A dangerous habit.”
“You’re rude.”
“You’re observant.”
A woman in a navy uniform appeared from another hallway.
“Welcome home, Mr. Knight.”
Her kind eyes shifted to me.
“And this must be Mrs. Knight.”
The title still felt stolen.
“Yes,” Adrian said. “This is Mara. She manages the household.”
Mara smiled warmly.
“It’s lovely to meet you.”
I almost hugged her for sounding human.
“Likewise.”
Adrian handed her his jacket.
“Prepare the blue guest suite for Mrs. Knight.”
Guest suite.
Not wife’s room.
Fine by me.
Mara nodded and disappeared.
I turned back to Adrian.
“So what now?”
“Now,” he said, loosening his tie, “you shower, rest, and make yourself presentable.”
My eyes narrowed.
“I already am presentable.”
“Debatable.”
I stepped closer.
“You may be rich, Mr. Knight, but you are dangerously close to being slapped.”
He looked down at me without blinking.
“Get used to self-control, Bonny.”
“Get used to being challenged.”
Something electric passed between us.
Not warmth.
Not kindness.
Something sharper.
Then he stepped aside.
“Dinner at seven.”
“With who?”
“My grandparents.”
I froze.
“The reason this marriage exists.”
My throat tightened.
“And if they don’t like me?”
His expression was unreadable.
“Then this becomes far more difficult for both of us.”
He walked away, leaving me standing in the middle of a stranger’s luxurious penthouse, wearing a stranger’s ring, preparing to meet the family of a stranger husband.
And somehow, I had the terrifying feeling this was only the beginning.
- Writer
