Chapter 2 THE GIRL I MARRIED

POV: Vivian Seven years ago, Cole had smiled at me across a university cafeteria. "You're sitting in my seat." I looked at the empty chair below me. "Your name isn't written on it." His lips curled into a grin. "No, but everyone can see that it's mine." I rolled my eyes. "Then everyone can see what I steal." He laughed. That was how we met. Not at some business meeting. Not at one of his father's many expensive parties. Not in some mansion guarded to the ends of the earth. We met at college. Cole was just a normal man back then. Didn't act the part of the heir to one of New York's most powerful families. He wore old sneakers. Complained about the food in the cafeteria. Forgets his textbooks. Smiled at random strangers. Especially me. I didn't know what to think of him at first. He was too confident. Too persistent. Too into me. "You always seem to be planning something," Cole told me one afternoon. "I'm not." "You are." "Perhaps I am planning on stealing your seat once more." He chuckled. And then sat next to me. That became our thing. Coffee before class together. Lunches. Endless chats after the lectures. Late-night messages. He made me feel noticed. And that was dangerous. Because I had actually been noticing his surname long before he had taken interest in mine. Vale. Everyone in New York knew the name. And I knew what it signified. Money. Power. Influence. Opportunity. I told myself I wasn't bothered. But I did. I hated myself for it. And then it dawned on me there was nothing wrong with wanting a better life. Our family hadn't exactly had it easy. The bills seemed to come faster than my pockets could keep up, and my mother was always working. My younger sister Mia always needed me. I needed security. And a better future where an unexpected bill would not ruin us. And that was where Cole came into play. Cole, who helped me when it came to the fees at the college. Cole, who brought me coffee before my exams. Cole, who waited outside the library for me when I studied late into the night. Cole who never questioned it. One evening he walked me home. The streets were quiet when we set off. "You know, you shouldn't pretend you're not happy to see me." I smiled at him, but he wasn't fooled. "Who says I'm pretending?" "I do." "You're very confident. He laughed. "You have reasons to be." I chuckled. Then he turned serious. "Vivian? Yes?"I turned to look at him, my heart thudding loudly in my chest as he stopped walking. The expression on his face had changed. There was no humour in his eyes. "I think I'm in love with you." My heart skipped a beat. It was the moment I should have confessed it all. Told him why I'd been watching his surname. Tell him what I wanted from his family. Tell him the truth about why I married him in the first place. Instead, I smiled. "I think I'm in love with you, too." That was the lie I regretted most. Until the day I walked into the church on our wedding day. Because the truth was, I hadn't married Cole for Cole. I married him for his father's money, and his mother's connections, and the life he could offer. The worst part was the fact that somewhere in all of it, I think I may have fallen in love with him too.

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