A FLASH MARRIAGE

In front of City Hall...

Elyse Warren walked out of the building with a marriage certificate in her hand.

Staring at it, she couldn't help but shake her head and let out a sigh. She felt like she was in a ridiculous dream. The marriage certificate in her hand meant that she was now married... to a stranger!

Suddenly, a man cleared his throat behind her and said, "Well, that's all we need to do for now. Go your way and never contact me again. Once a year has elapsed, we'll get a divorce and label lack of affection as the reason."

The man's voice was deep and firm, yet it was also icy and dismissive, which made him sound like an unpleasant person.

Elyse turned around to look at the man, whose name was Adrian Lambert, and said with an equally icy voice, "You don't have to tell me what to do. Rest assured, you'll never hear from me until it's time to get the divorce. In case you've forgotten, I'm in this situation because of the same reason as you, which is to satisfy the wishes of our families."

"That's wonderful to hear," Adrian muttered and took out a cigarette box, retrieved a stick, lit it, and began to smoke. As the smoke from the cigarette blurred his handsome face, his furrowed eyebrows appeared in and out of the haze.

He was in this mess thanks to his grandfather. If it weren't for him, Adrian would have chosen to never have anything to do with marriage, especially not with a woman he had never met.

This marriage was a result of a pact made between his grandfather and Elyse's grandmother.

From what he learned, Elyse's grandmother had saved his grandfather's life years ago. And since his grandfather went on to become the architect of the Lambert family's success, Elyse's grandmother was seen as the indirect cause of the family's prosperity. As a token of gratitude, his grandfather had seen to it that he and Elyse were betrothed to each other when they were still children.

Now that both Elyse's grandmother and his grandfather were old, they suddenly became particular about seeing their young ones get together before their time on Earth ran out. In that spirit, they had gone to great lengths to make this absurdity a reality.

Naturally, Adrian was a ruthless man who never bowed down to the will of others.

But his grandfather was an exception. He was loyal and respectful to the old man.

Though he wanted nothing more than to have absolutely nothing to do with Elyse, he couldn't bring himself to go foul of his grandfather's wish. So, he had no choice but to obtain the marriage certificate with Elyse.

"Smokers are liable to die young. I'll advise you to smoke less," Elyse suddenly said coldly. She glanced at her watch and continued, "I'm running late. I have to go and set up my stall at the market today. I will be on my way now."

Hearing this, Adrian shrugged indifferently and waved her away. But as Elyse began to walk off, he glanced at the cigarette in his hand, dropped it on the ground, and stamped it out.

At that moment, a Rolls-Royce drove into the city hall premises and pulled up in front of Adrian.

Adrian's secretary, Grayson Briggs, got out of the car, walked up to Adrian, and said respectfully, "Mr. Lambert, can I take you back to the company now?"

Adrian nodded and walked up to the passenger door, but just as he was about to get in, he paused for a moment, glanced at the marriage certificate in his hand, and then tossed it to Grayson. "Get it to my grandfather."

Grayson caught the certificate and looked at it. Seeing what it was, his eyes instantly widened in surprise.

Adrian was now a married man?!

What on earth was going on?