Married to My Brother’s Friend

"Ms. Miller, how much do you earn every month?"

Chloe Miller paused when she stirred her coffee and looked up at the man sitting opposite her, who was her blind date today. The matchmaker told her mother that this man was excellent. He was in charge of a big company and had a decent income. He earned more than ten thousand dollars a month.

Chloe was 24. Young as she was, she had a mother who was so crazy about her marriage that she began to be afraid of returning home. Yet now here she was, forced to meet another blind date, a so-called excellent man. Unexpectedly, the man asked her about her income as soon as he started talking.

"I run this cafe." Chloe kept her composure. When the man looked around the surroundings with satisfaction, Chloe said, "But I haven't started to make a profit by it yet."

Upon hearing this, the man's expression sharpened, "Does that mean that it's still running at a loss?"

Chloe nodded.

The man frowned. "Did you invest it with your money or someone else's? How much debt do you owe?"

"I started the cafe with a friend. I borrowed some money and I'm in debt to the extent of about 20 thousand dollars," Chloe answered honestly. Judging from the man's reaction, he was already dissatisfied. Whatever, she did not like him either.

"Ms. Miller, that is premarital debt. I won't help you pay the debt after we get married. I have two apartments under my name, which are my premarital assets. You can move in after we get married. We can pay the mortgage together, but I won't add your name to the property certificate.

"In addition, my parents like children. I hope you can get pregnant as soon as possible, but to be clear, they won't help you take care of the kids. It will be all on you.

"I can’t cook, and I'm usually busy with my work. You'll need to be responsible for the cooking in the house. I can't help with housework, but I like things to be clean and tidy. You'll need to clean up the house so that I won't be affected by any mess when I go home.

"Also..."

"Mr. Jones." Chloe interrupted him in spite of his displeasure and said bluntly, "I'm sorry. I can't meet your requirements, and I'm not the woman you need. Please get another one who is willing to be your free nanny. Take this coffee as my treat."

After that, she pointed at the door, gesturing that he should leave.

The man flushed. Perhaps he didn't expect that Chloe would be so reckless. He was convinced that he was very outstanding and had a high salary. He was willing to meet with Chloe, which should be a great honor for her. For the sake of her young and beautiful appearance, he thought that he would be doing her a favor to marry her, but she didn't appreciate his kindness.

Standing up abruptly, Mr. Jones took out his wallet and took out 20 dollars from it. He slammed it heavily on the table and said to Chloe, "I can afford a cup of coffee. I don't need your treat."

He put the wallet back in his trouser pocket, pulled out the chair, and turned away. After a few steps, he stopped and turned to Chloe to shout, "Ms. Miller, a woman like you, who is unwilling to sacrifice herself for family and doesn't know her manners, won't manage to get married."

Chloe picked up her cup of coffee and threw it at Mr. Jones as she answered back, "Get lost!"

Mr. Jones didn't expect that and got hit right on. His white suit was stained with coffee. He lost his manners, but noticing that he draw the other customers in the cafe, he suppressed his anger and said through gritted teeth, "As a decent man, I'll let this go."

After that, he left in a hurry.

"Humph, who do you think you are? An excellent man? What bullshit!"

Chloe felt that the blind date was really a waste of her time. This Jones was such a weirdo. She would rather stay single for the rest of her life than marry such a man.

Among a few customers watching the fun before leaving, a man said a few words to his followers, who left the cafe first. Then the man walked toward Chloe.

"Chloe."

When Chloe heard the deep and gentle voice, she instinctively looked at the man who was walking toward her.

Immediately, she stood up with a bright smile on her beautiful face. "Justin, why are you here?"

Justin Wilbur replied with a smile, "I asked a few friends to meet here. When I came in, you were not here."

This was the reason why Chloe, as the owner of Froyer Cafe, did not see Justin coming in.

"May I sit here?" Justin asked politely.

Chloe let him and called a waiter over to clean up the table. She then said to Justin, "Hold on, Justin. I'll make you a cup of coffee myself."

"Thanks, but that's not necessary. I'll just have a glass of water." He had already drunk a cup of coffee. If he had another one, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

Chloe got a glass of water for Justin and also asked the waiter to bring a few pastries over.

Justin was her elder brother's college classmate. When her brother was studying at university, he would go back to Manhattan from Seattle every winter and summer. Although Justin were a casual acquaintance with her brother, they would take a train to go home together every holiday.

Chloe was five years younger than her elder brother, Percy Miller. Every time he went home, she would follow her father to pick up Percy at the train station, when she would meet Justin.

Although she would greet him every time they met, she knew nothing about him. By now, they had known each other for 11 years.

Even if they hadn't met each other in the past few years, she could still recognize him at a glance.

"What was going on?" Justin asked gently.

It clouded Chloe’s face. She complained to Justin, "Justin, I'm only 24 years old, but my mother forced me to get married. I evade her now. Whenever she meets an acquaintance, she will ask them to help introduce me to a guy and arrange a blind date for me. This month, she blows up my phone every day. I've already had more than ten blind dates in a row."

Justin was quite speechless. "Mrs. Miller seems a bit too anxious about that."

When he met Chloe for the first time, she was only a 13-years-old little girl. As time passed by, she was now already a 24-year-old woman.

"You don't say. The blind date I had today was said to be an excellent man, but I think he's more like a weirdo. No wonder he's already in his 30s and hasn't gotten married yet. He wishes he would have a wife do the hard work while he himself enjoys the peace."

Justin looked at Chloe. "Look at you, you don't need to go on a blind date. There should be hundreds of men awaiting to pursue you."

It could be said that he had witnesses this girl growing to be a mature and attractive woman. Her every move was charming. Reasonably speaking, she should have no lack of pursuers.

Chloe curled her lips and explained, "When I was in college, I had a boyfriend whom I was in love with for four years. Half a year ago, he dumped me for someone who was out of his league. My mother thought that I was hurt by a scumbag. She was worried that I wouldn't get married, so she asked her acquaintances to set me up with a boyfriend every day."

She was just at the beginning of her career, and she didn’t mind being single at all.

She could not deny that the truth hurt her badly that four years’ romance was no match for the fame and fortune temptation.

There was an unreadable look in Justin’s eyes as he heard this sad past of Chloe.

Chloe's cell phone rang.

She took out her mobile phone and looked at the caller ID. With a bitter smile, she said to Justin, "My mom is blowing up my phone again. The weirdo called the matchmaker to tell on me, I bet you."

Since the first blind dates arranged by her mother, she would get a complaint from her blind date almost every time after the date was over.

She was not being picky, it was just that she didn't want to make do with some random guy.

Marriage was nothing of a joke in one’s life. If she married a weirdo, she would have to earn money to support the family while keeping the house as a free nanny. She might as well not get married.

Justin smiled and said, "You can make things clear to Mrs. Miller."

Chloe complained, "My mom never listens to me."

After complaining, she had to face it and answer the phone.

As soon as the call was connected, her mother started her lecturing. "Chloe, how many times have I told you that you're not young anymore?! You're already 24 years old. If you don't hurry up, nice guys will be picked up by younger girls. If you still be so picky but end up with a crappy guy, you'll regret it."