Ninety-Nine Proposals, Married to Another1 / 3

Chapter 1

1 When I was eighteen, I met Declan Morris, my father's star student, and tasted forbidden fruit with him.

For ten long years, we carried on in secret. Ninety-nine times, I begged him to marry me.

Then, I overheard him talking to a colleague outside his office.

"Declan, the girl is twenty-eight now. Aren't you ever going to take responsibility for her?"

His voice was completely devoid of emotion.

"There is a ten-year age gap between us. I only look after her because I promised her father I would. I have no other feelings for her."

Right after that, he got engaged to an heiress my age.

This time, I didn't cry or cause a scene.

Instead, I drew lots from the list of suitors my father had left for me and picked Hudson Pierce, the notorious campus bad boy turned slacker lecturer. We set our wedding date almost immediately.

On the day of the ceremony, the usually calm and composed Professor Declan Morris crashed the venue, dropping to his knees to beg me not to marry someone else.

***

When I was eighteen, my father summoned his favorite student, Declan Morris, to our study to discuss an urgent matter.

That day, Declan wore a crisp, tailored shirt and gold-rimmed glasses. He stood tall, looking like the picture of perfection.

I was hiding behind the door, peeking at him, when my father called me inside.

His face was dead serious.

"I have to leave for ten years, and my daughter is the only thing tethering me to this world."

Tears welled in my father's eyes as he placed my hand into Declan's palm.

"She has no other family left. Can I trust you to take care of her for me?"

I looked between the two of them in utter confusion, a cold panic seizing my chest.

"Dad, what are you talking about? Where are you going?"

My father sighed heavily.

"I've been assigned to a classified federal research project. I won't be allowed to contact family or come home for a decade."

I froze in place, my hands trembling uncontrollably.

Declan clasped my fingers tightly, his grip warm and steady.

"Don't be afraid."

"Professor Moore has done so much for me. You're like my own sister now, and I will protect you with my life."

The room fell dead silent, save for the wind rustling the pages of the open books on the desk.

Suddenly, memories of when I was five came rushing back. That was the day my mother left me under the exact same pretext.

Later, a lab explosion critically injured her, and the doctors couldn't save her life.

All I ever received was an urn of her ashes and three letters, delivered one year at a time.

Her colleague delivered her final words to me.

"I knew the risks of this project. My only regret is leaving my little girl without a mother, but my duty to this country comes first. Tell her I am so, so sorry."

She never got to see me grow up, and I never got to say goodbye.

Now, a decade had passed, and my father was in the exact same life-or-death situation just as Declan and I hit our tenth anniversary.

The only difference was that this time, the doctors gave us hope that my father might survive.

At twenty-eight years old, I asked Declan to marry me for the ninety-ninth time.

In the empty hospital corridor, I gripped his sleeve, my voice shaking.

"Declan, please, let's get married…"

Sitting beside me, Declan slowly pulled his arm away, his tone sounding strained.

"Elena, this isn't the right time…"

"But Dad's biggest wish is to see me settled down!" I pleaded, desperate and anxious.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and Declan instantly snatched back the hand he had been about to place on my head.

"Don't worry. The professor will pull through."

He rejected me once again.