Chapter 1
Lin Xiaoyu did not plan to get married on a Tuesday morning.
Especially not in a government office that smelled like disinfectant and regret.
"Next!"
The clerk's bored voice snapped her back to reality.
Xiaoyu stared at the red booklet in her hands, her brain buffering like bad Wi-Fi.
Marriage Certificate.
Her name was on it.
So was Zhou Yanchen's.
She slowly turned her head.
The man beside her stood tall, expressionless, dressed in a perfectly ironed black suit, as if this whole thing was just another business transaction. His face was calm, sharp, unbearably handsome—and completely unfamiliar.
"You're really going through with this?" she whispered.
Zhou Yanchen didn't look at her.
"We're already here."
"That's not an answer!"
He finally glanced down, eyes cold and unreadable. "Miss Lin, arguing won't change the fact that you signed the agreement."
Agreement?
Xiaoyu's heart skipped. "What agreement?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"
Of course she remembered signing something last night.
What she didn't remember was waking up in the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Last night had been a disaster.
She'd lost a case.
Her boss had yelled.
Her ex had announced his engagement—in the group chat.
And her best friend had dragged her to drink cheap cocktails that tasted like betrayal.
Somewhere between the third glass and her dramatic speech about never trusting men again, a stranger had sat beside her.
Tall. Quiet. Broad shoulders.
He'd listened while she complained. Paid for the drinks. Lent her his jacket when it rained.
She remembered saying, "If I marry someone today, at least let him be rich."
She did not remember actually doing it.
The clerk slammed the stamp down.
Thud.
"Congratulations. You're officially married."
Xiaoyu's soul left her body.
Outside, the sun was too bright for someone whose life had just collapsed.
She clutched the red booklet like it might explode. "This is illegal, right? We can annul this?"
Zhou Yanchen took out his phone. "According to the contract, no."
"CONTRACT?!" Her voice cracked. "You tricked me!"
"I didn't," he replied calmly. "You proposed."
"I was drunk!"
"You were coherent."
"That's worse!"
He sighed, rubbing his temple as if she were the headache. "Lin Xiaoyu, I need a wife for six months. You need money."
Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"
"You owe your law firm compensation for breaching a client agreement," he continued. "Three hundred thousand yuan."
Her knees nearly buckled. "How do you know that?!"
"Because," he said coolly, "I was the client."
Silence.
The wind blew.
A leaf rolled dramatically across the pavement.
"You're… Zhou Group?" she whispered.
"The same."
Her blood ran cold.
Zhou Group was the biggest tech company in Shanghai.
And Zhou Yanchen was infamous—ruthless, single, and allergic to scandal.
She looked down at the marriage certificate again.
So she hadn't married a stranger.
She had married her worst nightmare.
"I want a divorce," she said firmly.
He leaned closer, voice low. "Then help me survive my grandmother's birthday banquet without exposing this as fake."
"…Fake?"
"Of course it's fake," he said. "Don't fall in love."
Xiaoyu laughed hysterically. "Trust me, that won't happen."
He smiled faintly.
And for some reason, that scared her more than everything else.