The Marriage Clause

Genre: Contemporary Romance | Fake Marriage | Enemies to Lovers

Tone: Witty, emotional, slow-burn

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Logline:

When a by-the-book corporate lawyer and a free-spirited artist are forced into a fake marriage to claim a mutual inheritance, sparks fly, contracts blur, and love becomes the one clause they never saw coming.

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Main Characters:

Julia Hartman – A perfectionist lawyer, loyal to her firm, known for her icy demeanor and ironclad contracts.

Liam Rivers – A charming, messy artist who lives in a renovated van and sells paintings on street corners. He's allergic to structure and rules.

The starting....

Julia Hartman didn't cry at funerals. Not even her great-uncle Robert's, and he was the only person in her family who'd ever remembered her birthday and her favorite wine.

She stood at the back of the oak-paneled chapel in a black pantsuit sharp enough to cut through grief, her arms crossed and expression unreadable. Somewhere near the casket, someone sobbed into a lace handkerchief. Julia checked her watch.

Twelve minutes late.

Typical, she thought, when the doors groaned open behind her and a gust of cold January air swept in with him.

Liam Rivers.

Long hair, untucked shirt, one hand buried in the pocket of his faded jeans, the other holding a crumpled program. Julia stared. He looked like he'd just rolled out of a hammock in Venice Beach, not walked into the will reading of one of Manhattan's most respected real estate moguls.

Their eyes met across the aisle. He winked. She bristled.

After the service, they gathered in the library of Uncle Robert's townhouse-dark leather chairs, bourbon decanters, and walls lined with dusty law books. Julia stood tall by the fireplace, heels planted like a declaration of war. Liam, of course, slouched in a chair like he'd been born there.

The lawyer, a balding man with wire-frame glasses named Mr. Kendrick, cleared his throat.

"Now then," he said, opening a thick folder. "Robert Hartman left behind a rather... unconventional clause in his final testament."

Julia narrowed her eyes. She didn't like unconventional.

"He bequeathed his estate-valued at approximately twenty-three million dollars-not to individual heirs, but to a union."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Union?"

Mr. Kendrick nodded. "Specifically, to the marriage of his niece, Julia Hartman"-he glanced over his glasses-"and his godson, Liam Rivers."

Silence.

Then Julia laughed. A short, incredulous burst. "That's absurd."

"I'm afraid he was quite clear," Kendrick said, tapping the document. "You must be legally married and cohabitating for no less than ninety consecutive days. After that, the estate is yours-split fifty-fifty."

Julia rounded on Liam. "Did you know about this?"

"Me?" Liam held up his hands. "I found out just now, same as you. Although..." His lips curved into a grin. "Gotta admit, I'm flattered. Marrying me to get millions? Not a bad bargain."

She glared. "This isn't a joke."

"I'm not the one who wrote the clause."

Kendrick coughed. "If either of you declines, the estate defaults to a preservation trust for the arts and legal aid."

Julia ran a hand through her sleek bun, the gears in her head spinning. Ninety days. She had cases piling up, a law firm barely surviving, and now... this.

Liam leaned forward. "Let's be real. We both need the money, right? You to keep your fancy firm afloat. Me to finally open my community art center."

Julia stiffened. "You know about my firm?"

"I Googled you. Don't act shocked. You're like a lawyer goddess on LinkedIn."

She closed her eyes. Counted to five. "So what are you suggesting?"

"A deal. A contract," Liam said with a smirk. "You love those, right?"

---

Three days later, Julia sat across from him at a tiny café in SoHo, a neatly printed contract between them.

He'd shown up late. Again.

"You included a no physical contact clause?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," she said crisply. "We're not lovers. This is a transaction."

"And this bit-'no emotional entanglements'? What, we can't like each other now?"

"We don't like each other now," she replied.

He chuckled and leaned back, running a hand through his hair. "You're fascinating, you know that?"

Julia ignored the flutter in her chest. It was irritation. Definitely irritation.

"I'm just ensuring there's no room for ambiguity," she said. "We maintain appearances. We live under the same roof. We attend Uncle Robert's charity events as a couple. After ninety days, we file for divorce and go our separate ways."

Liam studied her for a moment, then picked up the pen. "Deal."

As he signed, something shifted in the air between them. The hum of the café faded. Julia stared at his handwriting-bold, chaotic, like him-and wondered, just for a second, if she'd made a deal with the devil.

Then he stood, offered his hand, and said with mock ceremony, "To our fake marriage."

She took it, her fingers brushing his warm palm.

"To the clause," she said coldly.

But even as she said it, she couldn't help but wonder how many rules they'd have to break before they broke each other.

Julia wasn't the kind of woman who made spontaneous decisions, but here she was, signing a marriage certificate with a man who wore paint-stained jeans and called her "Ice Queen" under his breath.

They filed the paperwork on a Tuesday afternoon. No ceremony, no flowers. Just a bored clerk at City Hall and a ring borrowed from the costume jewelry section of a thrift store.

"It's temporary," Julia reminded herself as Liam slid the ring onto her finger with a flourish.

"Still," he murmured, "fits you perfectly."

She yanked her hand back. "Let's not get sentimental."

Liam smirked. "Right. Strictly business."

---

The townhouse on East 74th Street had stood empty for over a year, yet everything smelled of cedar and tobacco-Robert Hartman's ghost lingering in pipe smoke and worn leather chairs. Julia had visited often as a child, always trailing behind in patent leather shoes, sneaking licorice from a hidden drawer while her parents argued over contracts in the parlor.

Now she stood in the grand foyer, keys in hand, wondering what exactly she'd signed herself into.

"I call the loft," Liam said, dumping a duffel bag onto the Persian rug. "More light."

Julia glared at him. "You'll take the guest room on the second floor. I'll take the master suite. We share the kitchen. Everything else is separate."

He gave a dramatic sigh. "You really are allergic to fun."

"Structure is not the enemy."

"Neither is color," he said, eyeing her black-on-black outfit. "Ever try blue? Red? Maybe something alive?"

She ignored him and climbed the staircase, heels echoing with precision.

---

Living with Liam was like living with a human hurricane-creative, chaotic, and impossible to ignore.

He cooked barefoot. He painted shirtless. He sang in the shower-badly.

Julia cataloged every offense like a prosecutor building a case: Exhibit A-he used her French press and didn't clean it. Exhibit B-he tracked paint onto the white marble. Exhibit C-he whistled "Can't Help Falling in Love" every time she walked into the room.

She retaliated with laminated house rules taped to the fridge.

He added doodles of dinosaurs eating them.

---

Three weeks in, they attended their first public event together: the Robert Hartman Foundation Gala. It was a glittering affair-string quartet in the corner, champagne towers, old money milling in tailored tuxedos.

Julia wore a sleek navy gown, her hair in a low twist. Liam looked surprisingly presentable in a tailored suit, though he still refused to button the top collar.

"You clean up well," she said reluctantly.

"Careful," he said, offering his arm. "Almost sounded like a compliment."

They walked in together, a vision of curated harmony. Cameras flashed. Whispers followed.

There's the Hartman niece.

That's the artist, right? The wild one?

Married? Really?

Julia smiled politely and reminded herself: Fake. Temporary. Controlled.

But Liam was charming-damn him. He complimented dowagers on their brooches, quoted Van Gogh to a group of bored hedge funders, and made Julia laugh-actually laugh-when he whispered that the foie gras looked like "duck-flavored sadness."

Then, during the first dance, he pulled her onto the floor without asking.

"Smile," he whispered as the orchestra swelled. "You'll scare the rich people."

She rolled her eyes but let him guide her. He moved surprisingly well-confident, casual, warm.

"You've done this before," she said, suspicious.

"I was a wedding crasher in college."

Of course he was.

"But this," he said, twirling her slowly, "is my favorite one yet."

Julia blinked. His eyes-green with amber flecks-held hers a little too long. The room faded around them. For one terrifying second, she forgot the rules.

Then she stepped on his foot.

Hard.

---

Back home, she poured herself a scotch and retreated to the study. Liam followed, jacket slung over his shoulder.

"You did well tonight," she said. "Convincing performance."

"I aim to please." He leaned against the doorframe. "So what now? We check off days like prison sentences?"

"We continue as planned. Maintain appearances. Survive the ninety days. Then divorce."

He nodded, then tilted his head. "And after that?"

"We go back to our lives."

"No regrets?"

She hesitated. "None."

He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Liar."

---

The days turned into weeks.

They fell into a rhythm of sorts.

Mornings were her domain: coffee at 6:00 a.m., emails by 6:30, court by 8:00.

Liam painted late into the night, sometimes muttering to himself or playing jazz at full volume. She threatened to evict him; he offered her a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

He made her laugh more than she admitted.

She made him dinner more than she intended.

They began to blur the lines. Small things.

One evening, he found her asleep in the library with a contract still clutched in her hands. He carried her upstairs without waking her, brushed her hair from her face, and whispered, "Don't sue me for this."

She dreamed of warmth and color and something almost like peace.

---

The thirty-day mark arrived with fanfare in the form of a burnt pie and a congratulatory bottle of prosecco Liam insisted on opening with a paintbrush.

"To thirty days of fake marital bliss," he toasted.

"To tolerating your existence," she replied, sipping.

They sat on the kitchen floor, leaning against the cabinets, surrounded by crumbs and laughter.

He looked at her. Really looked.

"You know," he said softly, "for someone who built her world out of rules... you're kind of extraordinary."

She froze.

"That wasn't in the contract," she said.

"Neither is this," he murmured-and kissed her.

It was soft. Slow. Not like anything she expected. No calculation, no power play. Just lips meeting hers with gentle certainty.

She didn't stop him.

She didn't want to stop him.

But when it ended, she stood up, heart racing.

"This changes nothing."

Liam stared at her. "Doesn't it?"

---

She avoided him for two days.

He didn't push.

She buried herself in briefs and billing hours. She told herself the kiss meant nothing.

But at night, she pressed her fingers to her lips and remembered the way he tasted like prosecco and recklessness.

On the forty-third day, they went to bed at the same time.

Separate rooms.

But the space between them had never felt smaller.

The townhouse was quiet that night. Too quiet.

Julia lay awake in the master bedroom, staring at the ceiling fan as it turned lazily overhead. She had spent the last four weeks building walls, enforcing boundaries, and repeating her mantra like a prayer: this is not real, this is not real, this is not real.

But her body still remembered the weight of Liam's kiss. And worse-so did her heart.

Downstairs, a faint guitar chord floated through the vents. Just a few strums, soft and slow. She'd never seen him play before. He kept the instrument tucked in a worn case, said it was private. Sacred, even.

But tonight, he played.

And it wasn't chaos. It was melancholy.

She climbed out of bed before she could stop herself.

---

Liam didn't look up when she entered the sunroom. He sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by canvases. Some were blank. Others half-finished. One showed a blur of blue and gray with flecks of copper-like storm clouds breaking at dawn.

"You paint like you feel too much," she said softly.

He glanced over. "I thought you'd locked yourself in legal heaven."

She crossed her arms. "I couldn't sleep."

"Me either." He strummed once more, then set the guitar aside. "Must be the fake marital tension."

She ignored the bait. "That painting. It's different from the others."

He followed her gaze. "Yeah. It's you."

Julia blinked. "What?"

"Not your face. Just... how I see you. The first time you walked into Uncle Robert's house, you looked like a storm that didn't know it was already breaking."

She swallowed. "That's not how I see myself."

"I know." He stood slowly, his tone shifting. "You see rules. Expectations. Control. I see someone who's spent their whole life carrying other people's weight and never once asking for help."

Julia didn't know what to say.

So he stepped closer. Not touching. Just near.

"I didn't mean to kiss you that night," he said quietly. "It just happened. But I won't do it again unless you want me to."

She searched his face. He wasn't mocking her. Not pushing. Just waiting.

She hated waiting.

"I didn't expect this to be hard," she admitted. "I thought I could outlogic it."

Liam smiled faintly. "Maybe love doesn't care about clauses."

She stiffened. "Don't say that."

"Why? Because you'll catch feelings and the contract will implode?"

"Because if I catch feelings," she said, voice barely above a whisper, "then it's not fake anymore."

He didn't answer.

He didn't have to.

---

On Day 51, Julia found her mother waiting outside the townhouse.

Victoria Hartman had never approved of her brother Robert's "eccentricities"-or Julia's career, clothing choices, or most of her adult decisions.

"Julia." She gave her daughter the kind of air-kiss that could bruise egos.

"Mother," Julia said warily. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I came to see this arrangement of yours. I read about it in the Times." Her lip curled. "You married that artist boy?"

"He's a man. And yes. Temporarily."

Victoria swept into the foyer like royalty. "You always were sentimental about Robert. But marrying for money? Even for you, that's bold."

Julia bristled. "It's more complicated than that."

"I'm sure it is," Victoria said. "But be careful. Attachments formed in pretense can linger."

"What makes you think we're attached?"

Victoria arched an eyebrow. "Because you sound defensive."

Julia said nothing.

---

That night, Liam found her in the courtyard, pruning a rosemary plant that had long since died.

He watched her for a moment before asking, "Rough day?"

"My mother showed up. Judging, as usual."

Liam winced. "Did she say anything about me?"

"She called you 'the artist boy' and questioned your hygiene."

He grinned. "She's not wrong. But if it helps, I washed my hair yesterday."

Julia rolled her eyes, but her mouth twitched.

Liam stepped closer. "You know, I could be worse. I could be one of those guys who quotes Nietzsche and lives off protein powder."

"You quote Bob Ross and live off cereal."

"Exactly. Far superior."

She laughed, and he smiled like it was the rarest sound in the world.

Then he asked, "Do you ever think about what happens after?"

She hesitated. "You mean after the clause?"

He nodded.

Julia looked up at the dark windows of the house. "I used to imagine I'd move to a high-rise with floor-to-ceiling windows. No distractions. Just the city and my work."

"And now?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted.

He reached for her hand, tentative.

She didn't pull away.

---

On Day 62, things broke.

Not loudly.