The instant I accepted, he sent me a location pin for the county clerk's office and a time.
"Hello. Would you be willing to enter a secret marriage with me?"
My fingertip froze in midair, trembling. I didn't dare move, convinced I was dreaming.
It turned out Patrick's grandfather was on his deathbed. The old man's only dying wish was to see his grandson married before he passed. That was why Patrick had suddenly shown up at the alumni mixer.
His reason for choosing me was simple. I was in medicine, out the door before dawn and home after dark. We'd barely cross paths. And since I'd already grown numb to the world's cruelties at the hospital, he assumed I wouldn't be interested in romance.
It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water in my face. I was about to refuse when another message came through.
"I know a secret marriage isn't fair to you. I'll give you a divorce agreement with the date left blank. The moment you want out, I'll sign. And for every year the marriage lasts, five million dollars will be deposited into your account."
When I thought about how I could work my entire life and never earn five million, yet all I had to do was marry a handsome, restrained man for one year to get it, I was ashamed to admit my heart wavered.
In the second year of our marriage, our relationship shifted. We went from two strangers coexisting under the same roof to exchanging small daily check-ins, casual concern, quiet warmth.
Then one night, he came home drunk from a business dinner. The second he walked through the door, he pinned me beneath him and murmured Edith's name, his voice thick with longing.
My heart lurched. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around him. But the moment our lips touched, I remembered: he had someone else. The one that got away. The woman he'd never stopped wanting.
I shoved him off. Hard. And I laid it all out before things went any further.
I didn't share. Not ever. If anything happened between us tonight, then from this point on, I had to be the only woman in his heart.
Patrick clung to me, stealing kisses between sloppy, mumbled agreements.
As time went on, I started pressing him. When are we going public?
To prove I was serious, I tore up the divorce agreement right in front of him and made a vow: As long as you don't leave, I won't either.