I Married the “Ugliest” Woman on New Year’s Eve

AUSTIN’S POV The Scandal The Hale name had survived worse storms, but never one that involved me and never one that exploded this loudly. It began with the vibration of my phone at six in the morning, persistent and almost violent against the glass countertop. I ignored it at first, half convinced it was another pointless email from my assistant. Then the second buzz came. The third. The tenth. By the time the twentieth message came in within the span of a minute, I knew something was wrong. My gut twisted before I even reached for the phone. The screen was filled with notifications from news outlets and gossip blogs. My name. My face. My ex. All over the trending lists. For a moment the letters blurred together because my body refused to accept the words in front of me. Austin Hale engaged to socialite Bianca Lorne. Secret engagement exposed. Ring confirmed. Wedding on New Year’s Eve. I stared so long that my reflection looked like someone else entirely. Someone reckless. Someone foolish enough to propose to the one woman who had tried to destroy me long before this. I clicked one of the articles. The headline burst across the screen with a dramatic flair and a smiling photo of Bianca clasping her hands over her chest. In the photo she wore a ring. Not just any ring. My mother’s ring. The Hale heirloom. A ring she had stolen the night she left me, claiming she deserved compensation for my coldness. I remembered the argument. I remembered the sharpness of her voice and the cruelty in her eyes. But most of all, I remembered the relief I felt when she finally walked out. That should have been the end of our story. Yet the article was written like we had been lovers reunited. Bianca had staged photos. She had taken the ring and positioned herself near my apartment building. She had smiled at the camera as if I was the one who placed the ring on her finger. She even had the audacity to include quotes about how happy she was to spend her life with me. The lies layered themselves until they felt suffocating. The phone rang then. Not a message. Not a notification. A call. My father’s name flashed on the screen in bold letters that felt heavier than they should. I answered. His voice was cold. Cold enough to freeze bone. “Get to the house. Now.” I knew better than to argue. I changed into a suit quickly, my mind spinning in a thousand directions. Every second felt like a threat ticking closer to destruction. By the time I arrived at the Hale mansion, the reporters were already stationed outside the gates, cameras pushing through the bars like vultures. Security had to escort me through the back entrance. Inside, my father stood near the grand fireplace, towering and furious. His eyes were sharp steel and his jaw was set as if he was seconds from breaking. My mother sat on the loveseat, pale and shaking, holding the empty velvet ring box in her trembling hands. She looked up at me with something close to heartbreak in her eyes. “Tell me you did not propose to that woman.” Her voice cracked. “I did not,” I said. My father turned. “Then why is she wearing your mother’s ring. Why has she announced a wedding. Why has she told the world our family is merging with the Lorne empire. Why have you embarrassed us.” My patience finally snapped. “I did not embarrass us. Bianca did this to trap me. She has been trying to claw her way back into my life since we ended things. She wants the Hale name. She wants the power. She stole the ring. I never proposed.” My father’s eyes narrowed. “The world does not believe that.” My mother looked at the screen of her tablet again, scrolling through headlines with trembling fingers. Each article made her wince. Each photo made her eyes flinch. I walked closer and looked over her shoulder. There were dozens of pictures. Bianca posing with the ring. Bianca smiling like a bride. Bianca holding a bouquet of white lilies. Whoever helped her orchestrate this had done it flawlessly. My father spoke again, voice hard. “This is not a scandal we can brush away. She is destroying our reputation. Our investors are panicking. Our partners are calling me nonstop. You have made yourself the center of a circus.” “I will fix it,” I said. “How.” His tone cut like glass. “She claims you promised her a New Year’s Eve wedding.” “It is a lie.” “The media does not care. The investors do not care. The board does not care. All they see is that our heir is caught in a scandal he cannot control.” He stepped closer. His voice dropped. “And when a Hale cannot control his private life, people assume he cannot control the empire.” My fists clenched. I felt something inside me coil, tight and burning. “I will deny everything publicly.” “You tried,” he said. “She already released a second statement saying you are having a lovers’ quarrel. Your denial only feeds her claims.” I cursed under my breath. Bianca knew exactly what she was doing. She understood the media. She understood desperation. She understood how to turn a lie into a truth simply by repeating it until the world swallowed it whole. My mother placed her hand on my arm. “Austin. Look at me.” I did. “You must do something drastic.” I frowned. “Like what.” Before she answered, the doors opened and my grandmother walked in, small but imposing, wrapped in a deep purple shawl that brushed the floor behind her. She had ruled this family with silent iron for years. When she spoke, even my father lowered his head. And tonight her voice was calm. Too calm. “I have the solution,” she said. Everyone turned to her. She walked straight to me, her eyes sharp and ancient with wisdom and warning. “The only way to end a fake engagement scandal is to replace it with a real marriage.” I stared at her. For a moment I thought she was joking. She never joked. She kept moving. “Everyone believes you intend to marry Bianca. The world thinks you have chosen her. The only way to break that illusion is to marry someone else. Publicly. Tonight.” My mother gasped softly. My father folded his arms as if considering the idea. My grandmother continued with the same calm authority she always carried. “If you marry another woman today, the scandal will crumble. Bianca will be exposed as a liar. The ring she stole becomes irrelevant. The media will turn their attention to the real bride. The Hale name will be protected.” I blinked once. Twice. My voice came out low and strained. “You want me to marry a stranger. Tonight.” “Yes,” she said. “That is insane.” “That is necessary.” Her voice remained steady. “If you do not marry tonight, Bianca will ruin us completely. She already has the ring. She already has the photos. She will spin stories that make you look like the villain. The damage will not stop. The board will question your position. Investors will withdraw. Rivals will pounce. You have one chance to turn this around.” My father finally spoke. “She is right.” I stepped back. The pressure in the room felt too heavy to breathe. Marriage. Tonight. To someone I had never met. My mind screamed at the absurdity of it. Marriage was not part of my plan. Romance was not part of my life. My relationships had always been clean, controlled, temporary. I never allowed myself to get attached. But this was more than attachment. This was a cage disguised as a solution. I tried to steady my voice. “You are asking me to ruin someone else’s life to fix mine.” “No,” my grandmother said. “We will choose a girl who understands the arrangement. Someone who will not complain. Someone who will not manipulate you. Someone far better than Bianca Lorne will ever be.” I pressed my fingers into my temples. My body pulsed with anger and disbelief. “You think this is reasonable.” “I think this is the only way,” she said. My father stepped forward. His expression softened only slightly, but it was enough to tell me he was nearing desperation. “Son. This family built an empire over three generations. Everything we have, everything we are, is now on the line because of this woman. If you do not act swiftly, she will destroy us. You must make a choice.” A cold realization hit me. I did not have the luxury of time. The scandal was already spiraling. Every second left unchecked would become another headline. Another attack. Another step closer to downfall. My grandmother moved closer and placed her hand on my chest. Her eyes locked onto mine with unshakable determination. “Austin,” she said softly. “You need to marry tonight.”