Stepping out of the city clerk’s office with the freshly issued marriage certificate in hand, Julissa Greene still couldn’t quite believe it. Somehow, she’d ended up with a husband—a 6’2” man with strikingly gorgeous features.
“You’ve memorized your husband’s name?” A rich, magnetic voice beside her cut into her thoughts.
Julissa instinctively snuck another peek at the certificate, just to double-check. She nodded, confident now. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”
“I’ve already texted you our home address and the apartment number. Here’s the key. You can head over on your own—I need to get back to work.”
Flynn Greene pressed a set of keys into her palm without so much as a second glance and turned to leave. Julissa called after him, “Um… when do you usually get off work?” She wanted to time dinner just right for him.
Flynn paused. His tailored slacks emphasized those long legs of his, and the black shirt he wore radiated a quiet, understated confidence. Even just standing there, silent and still, his flawless, handsome features turned heads. Without looking back, he replied, “I’m not sure. I have to swing by the hospital.”
Realizing just how swamped he was, Julissa decided not to keep him. She waved as he caught a cab. She knew all too well that people in his line of work were basically on call 24/7 for their clients, and she respected that.
As she watched him disappear, her gaze drifted down again to the name on the marriage certificate—Flynn Greene—and a soft smile curved her lips. Just twenty years old and already a married woman.
Even though she’d only met Flynn twice—the first time at the hospital after her parents’ tragic car crash, and the second just yesterday when she donated blood for his little sister—circumstances had forced her to find a spouse fast.
In Flynn, she saw someone who’d lived through a similar nightmare, losing his own parents that very same day. Both of them were now left caring for a young child. He carried himself with this calm sense of responsibility, and his age suggested a maturity she hoped would translate into kindness.
And, okay, he was undeniably easy on the eyes. When she’d impulsively proposed to him yesterday, she never dreamed he’d actually say yes. Yet here they were, officially married.
The reality of their whirlwind wedding felt way less dramatic than she’d expected. Taking a steadying breath, Julissa tucked the marriage certificate into her bag and headed to the bus stop to pick up her little brother from preschool.
As she climbed onto the bus, her phone rang. Her aunt’s name, Savanna Russell, flashed across the screen. She hesitated for just a second before answering. Savanna’s razor-sharp voice sliced through immediately. “Julissa! I’ve been telling you to get home earlier. We’ve got important guests today. Where the hell are you? When will you be back?”
Julissa knew exactly what her aunt meant by “important guests”—she was scheming to marry her off to some unappealing, over-three-hundred-pound deadbeat for a fat dowry. But they were in for a rude awakening. Now that she was married, her aunt’s schemes had no hold on her. She replied, cool and steady, “Aunt Savanna, I’m married now. So you can stop lining up those dates for me. I’ll be moving out with my little brother and won’t be troubling you anymore.”
“What did you just say?! Say that again, you ungrateful brat!” Before Savanna could unleash her fury, Julissa ended the call and blocked both her aunt’s and uncle’s numbers. It was time to pick up Abel. She was done being their doormat. Every single dollar of her hard-earned salary—roughly seven hundred bucks a month—had gone toward supporting Abel, and still, they wanted to sell her off like livestock.
At least her new husband was kind, had a stable job, and being older, seemed to have some common sense. She wouldn’t miss that parasitic family one bit. Best to leave them behind for good.
After scooping Abel up, Julissa kissed his chubby cheek. “Hey, little man, we’re going somewhere Aunt Savanna can’t push us around anymore. We’re gonna live there now, okay?”
Abel, only five but already scarily wise for his age, beamed and hugged her tight. “Really? We never have to go back to Aunt Savanna’s?”
“That’s right. We’re going to our new home now.” Taking his hand, Julissa led Abel to the bus.
When the siblings arrived at their new apartment complex and gave their unit number to the security guard, they were buzzed right in. The building was nothing fancy—just an older high-rise on the outskirts of town—but to Julissa, it felt like a sanctuary.
Once inside their cozy apartment, Julissa was thrilled to discover it was around eight hundred square feet—small, but thoughtfully furnished. It already felt like a real home. She set Abel down, and he eagerly explored the space, eyes hunting for toys.
“Don’t mess with anything, got it? Remember, we’re not the only ones living here,” she reminded him.
Abel obediently yanked his hand back from the toy he’d been eyeing and continued poking around more carefully.
Julissa took a moment to really soak in the apartment. Two bedrooms, a tiny living room, a kitchen, one bathroom, and a balcony. Perfect for a family of four. Remembering that Flynn’s little sister was still stuck in the hospital, she headed to the kitchen to start cooking.
Meanwhile, at Greene Corporation, in the CEO’s suite, Flynn’s assistant, Dalton Williamson, was delivering a briefing. “Sir, as you instructed, a standard sedan has been delivered and is parked downstairs.”
Without lifting his eyes from the documents on his desk, Flynn asked, “What’s the price range?”
“Around ninety thousand,” Dalton replied, thinking a modest car like that would be more than sufficient for Flynn’s purposes.
Earlier, when he’d been tasked with finding a suitably low-key apartment, Dalton had nearly lost his mind. In his eyes, anything that matched Flynn’s stature would still cost a small fortune. And yet, Flynn had handpicked a charming—if cramped—apartment. Dalton couldn’t wrap his head around why someone like Flynn, accustomed to the absolute best, would willingly choose such a humble setup—even if it was to keep a low profile with Julissa.
“Do you honestly think your average person in this city is driving a ninety-thousand-dollar car?” Flynn’s voice was laced with thinly veiled impatience. “Maybe you need a little taste of ordinary life yourself. Should I get you a unit next door?”
Dalton nodded hastily. “Yes, sir, I’ll swap it out immediately. How about fifty thousand instead?”
“Cap it at twenty-five,” Flynn ordered, his expression stern. “And remember, when you pick me up, you’re just a friend of a friend. I’m in sales.”
Dalton bowed slightly. “Understood.”
Flynn checked his watch and rose from his chair. “Let’s head to the hospital.”
