Chapter 4

Most importantly, this is a commercial marriage. If Chloe refused, there could be more blind dates until she accepted to get married. Rather than letting some possible mother-in-laws bully her for not being a virgin, she might just marry Sam. Drinking the last bit of unwillingness and regret, Chloe picked up the Yixing clay teapot, pressed down on the lid and refilled the cups for David and Hank. She agreed to this marriage. In the Bolton family. There are in total of three floors in the Bolton villa. Not only did it cover a large area, but a big part of it was designated as the outer and inner yard. The road of the outer yard was paved with flat and smooth waterproof tiles for the security guards to drive seyway scooters on patrol. And the inner yard was paved with pebbles that formed narrow paths, leading to the entrances of different rooms. Opening the anti-theft gate on the first floor of the villa with his fingerprint, Sam walked into the spacious living room. A beautiful girl sat up from the leather sofa and waved at him, asking him to go to her. Sam sat down beside her. Freya Bolton licked her ice cream and asked, "Oh dear brother, tell me. How does my future sister-in-law look? Does it suit your taste?" Sam was filled with anger without an outlet. Freya was technically adding fuel to his fire. He snagged his sister's Häagen-Dazs ice-cream and her spoon without asking. Before she realized what happened, all Freya could see was just an empty cup. Looking at her cup, Freya revealed her little white fangs and snared, "Who told you to always bully me? You deserve to be trapped in a marriage by dad! That's karma for you!" Freya's words undoubtedly pushed Sam's buttons. He didn't respond but crumbled the ice cream packaging into a ball. Hank entered the living room right after and wanted to discussed with Sam about the arrangements for the wedding in two weeks. Sam said indifferently, "Why bother with a wedding? All I need is a piece of paper." Hank rejected his idea, "You might not care about how others think of you. The Boltons still have a reputation to uphold. Reception or overseas, pick one." Sam waved his hand at his father, "We don't need all these. The more extravagant the wedding will be, the more humiliated you all will be when we get a divorce." Hank flared up once he heard Sam. "You're thinking about divorce BEFORE you even get married? Why do you want ruin this nice young lady?" Sam pursed his lips and said, "Father, can't you see that Chloe doesn't want this as much as I do? I've already agreed to get married. Don't try to control what will happen at My wedding! Keep this up and people might think that you are the groom." After staring at his son for a few seconds, Hank made a compromise, "Fine. Wedding or not, as long as you talk to Chloe about it, I won't interfere any further, on one condition." "Tell me." "Divorce. And it has to be Chloe who proposed it." It was a night with a starless sky. Chloe returned to her apartment by her electric scooter. A man was yelling next door. Chloe didn't feel right about it and called the police to investigate the late night disturbance. Back in her apartment, Chloe sat on a rattan chair and awaited her roommate Jennifer's interrogation. Jennifer shot her questions like a tommy gun. "Spill it. Where did you go tonight? Who did you meet? What did you talk about?" "Jennifer, I'm not a murder suspect, okay?" Chloe took a sip of water and told her the truth, "I'm getting married. My husband-to-be is the next CEO of Dane, with a face of an angel who lives like a king. Wish me luck." "What... what?" After a moment of silence, Jennifer screeched so loud she almost broke all the glass windows. Jennifer was utterly stunned and speechless, while Chloe added with an unusual serenity," Commercial marriages. You know how it is." To Jennifer, commercial marriages would be something she can only see from some soap opera. But she believed that Chloe must have a strong reason to make such a decision that could determine the rest of her life. "By the way, soon after you left for the blind date, Daryl Mitchell showed up. I said you weren't here, so he asked me to give you this." From the coffee table, Jennifer took out a letter with a red envelope laced with gold on the side and handed it to Chloe. Although she prepared herself mentally, she still felt a stake stabbing her heart when she found out it was a wedding invitation. Suppressing the urge to burn it, she read the invitation word by word. There is an engagement party on the 11th next month, on the first floor in Diamond Hotel. The groom would be Daryl Mitchell, and the bride would be Bella Stark... Jennifer sounded furious, "Chloe, if I were you, I'd rather die than go to that party. Let those wicked couple rot with their stupid party." "Let's talk about it later." Chloe closed her eyes, trying to hide her fatigue. Within a day, she lost her virginity to a one-night-stand who happened to be both her current boss and her future husband... On the other hand, Daryl, who promised Chloe to spend their life together forever, was about to be engaged to her half-sister next month. On a Saturday. Chloe slept soundly in her dimmed bedroom. Suddenly, her alarm clock went off, so she reached out to stop the alarm. Later at 9, Chloe and Sam would meet up at the Civil Affairs Bureau to get their marriage certificate. But it was only 8 o'clock, she had more than enough time to get prepared. She got up and pulled out a dusty suitcase under her bed. She stared at the image of a mermaid on the suitcase and took a stroll in the memory lane. This suitcase was a souvenir her mother bought her from Disneyland when she was a child. The small suitcase could not carry much, but a lot of sentiment to her. Three years ago, she brought this suitcase with her as a runaway. Three years later, it was still with her now as she was about to be a married woman. This suitcase had been with her through her life's ups and downs. As for her mother who had rested in peace, she could only watch over Chloe in a different way. "Chloe, what a gorgeous ride your husband has. Can I touch it? If I can, may I take a ride in it?" Helping Chloe carry her suitcase, Jennifer had been gawking in awe at that limited-edition Lamborghini since it was parked outside the Civil Affairs Bureau. When the man in the driver's seat took off his sunglasses, he opened the car door and stepped out. Seeing Sam, Jennifer pretended to faint and fell into Chloe's arms. "Oh honey, I can't do this anymore. Your husband already looks tasty on the photos in the financial newspaper. He is even more breathtaking in person..." "What do you want?" Chloe asked uncomfortably. "I wanna rip that shirt off and let him play me in a million ways..." Chloe was shocked by Jennifer's horny comments. Just as Chloe turned around, she saw Sam lifted his right eyebrow, as if he was silently judging her choice of friends. She faked a cough and pushed Jennifer away, who was still leaning on her. She snared, "You little vixen! I hope your future husband is seven feet tall who will work you every night!" Assuming Jennifer would feel embarrassed, she actually muttered with joy, "Well I don't mind that." Sam rushed Chloe, "Are you ready or not?" Jennifer instantly dropped her goofiness and said to Sam on a serious note, "Mr. Bolton, my dear Chloe has never been loved since she was a child. Please treat her well." Sam's facial expression remained unchanged, giving no response to Jennifer's request. Right after Jennifer left, Sam asked Chloe "So, you want me to play you in a million ways, eh?" Chloe's face turned red in a flash and replied, "Hey, it wasn't me who said it!" "Who was that? Your baby sister? By the way, she doesn't look too bad, if only..." "Sam Bolton!" Chloe shrilled with her eyes locked dead on him. "If you dare to even have the slightest idea of touching Jennifer, I WILL destroy you!" Witnessing her rage, Sam chuckled and asked, "You just can't wait to control my life, can you?" She took a deep breath. "Once we got our marriage certificate, I could care less if you were out there being playboy every night and scoring every woman in Detroit. Anyone BUT Jennifer!" Finally getting the promise he hoped for, Sam gave a wicked grin, "Your words. Not mine." Civil Affairs Bureau usually was not open to the public on weekends. Since it was the Sam Bolton who came to apply for the certificate, the staff made an exception for it. Chloe and Sam provided relevant documents and wrote their names in the column of "Name of Declarant ". After a while, Chloe was delighted to finally receive her very own marriage certificate with a ruby red cover. Sam didn't give a hoot about what color it was. He simply shoved it into his pocket, got up, and said to Chloe, "Let's go." Once they got out, noticing Chloe was on the backseat of the car, Sam knocked on the glass window frowning, "Move upfront. I'm not your driver." So Chloe moved up to the passenger seat right next to Sam. Chloe buckled up with her head down when Sam turned to her and declared, "Let me make it clear. I do not love you. Marrying you is simply my father's wish." Chloe locked her bright eyes on the dashboard, feeling like she had fallen into a trap, replied, "With your power, since you don't even want this, why didn't you stop it before we signed?" "You didn't refuse the offer either, did you?" Sam pointed out, "Given there is no escape in this, why shouldn't I find someone who won't get in my way?" Chloe heard and nodded, "That makes sense." Her voice was so calm that Sam, who had read countless faces, could not tell whether she actually agreed with him or just being sarcastic. But on second thought, he felt relieved again. Who cared what she thought? As he started the car, he said, "Let's go back home and meet my parents." Chloe asked, "What are your family's hobbies? After all, this is the first time we meet and I don't want to go empty-handed." Sam glanced at her at the corner of his eyes. All he saw was the sincerity on her face, not an ounce of pretense. Seeing him distracted, Chloe reminded him swiftly, "Eyes on the road please." Sam was startled for he never thought she would be so considerate, "I've prepared the gifts in advance. You just need to tag along." Chloe was well aware that Sam was not doing this out of courtesy, but his way of distancing himself from this 'marriage'. So she just nodded. Her reaction once again surprised Sam, who assumed women would not give up until they got to the bottom of it in situations like this. During the ride, he spent most of the time briefing Chloe of what she needed to pay attention to after joining the family. Although there was no love for her, Sam didn't want her to embarrass herself in front of the elders. After all, he chose Chloe to be his wife. It would be a shame to him if she was not anything but remarkable.