But the anesthesia and the exhaustion fogged Ana's thoughts, and before she could chase the thread, Austen suddenly reminded her, “The office closes in ten minutes, Ana. Please sign the documents.”
She blinked, hesitated for just a second,and she signed her name. The ink bled slightly on the cheap paper.
Austen followed, his signature a sharp, confident slash of black ink. Decisive. Final.
The clerk stamped the document with a loud, percussive thud.
"Congratulations. You're married."
The words sounded surreal, like a line from a foreign film.
Austen took the marriage certificate from the clerk, folded it neatly, and placed it in her hand. The paper was still warm.
At this moment, Ana's mobile phone vibrates, and a name that she hopes never to see again lights up on the screen: Mom.
She answered the call.
"Ana! I've been trying to reach you all morning. " Her mother's voice was impatient， "Where are you?You need to come to Mr. Harrington's office right now and sign the disclaimer."
Ana's blood ran cold. "What disclaimer?"
"Don't play dumb, darling." Eulalie's sugary tone curdled with condescension. "The inheritance. Your father's will. Tomorrow is your twenty-fifth birthday, and we both know you haven't managed to find a husband. I've already spoken to the trustees. Coleen is willing to step in and take over the estate—she's far more suited to manage the family assets anyway. So just come in, sign the papers, and we can put this whole sad little drama behind us."
Ana's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white, "If I refuse?"
"Refuse?" Eulalie laughed—a high, brittle sound. "What choice do you have? You spent three years without being able to get Giles to marry you.So be a good girl and get down here. I'll send you the address."
The line went dead.
Ana felt something cold and hard settle in her chest. She turned to look seriously. "Now, I need you to go with me."
Austen didn't ask anything. Take her back to the car.
They arrived at the sleek, impersonal office. Her mother, Eulalie Love, was already there. She sat in a leather chair, looking smug and triumphant, a garish yellow diamond sparkling on her finger.
"Ana, darling,I heard from the nurse that you were in a hurry to leave the hospital," Eulalie said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "I'm so sorry you couldn't meet the terms. But don't worry, the family assets will be in good hands."
The lawyer looked at Ana with pity. "Ms. Gardner, according to the procedure, you can present the documents necessary to claim the property. If not, we will proceed with the document signing process."
Ana walked to the long conference table, her steps steady. She unfolded the marriage certificate and placed it in the center of the polished wood.
"I do."
Upon hearing these words, Eulalie was stunned. Then, she snatched the paper. Her eyes scanned it quickly, and then she let out a shrill, dismissive laugh. "Married? To whom?"
Eulalie's gaze drifted past her daughter，and landed on the tall, silent figure standing by the door.
The man hadn't moved since they entered. He hadn't spoken. the air around him seemed to hum with a quiet, coiled power. For a fleeting second, Eulalie felt a prickle of unease crawl up her spine. Her instincts—honed by decades of navigating the cutthroat world of wealth and status—whispered a warning. This man is not ordinary.
But then she caught herself. She scoffed internally. Don't be ridiculous. Ana was desperate, broke, and fresh out of surgery.
This man was probably some struggling actor she'd found online, paid a few hundred dollars to play the part of a husband. A good actor, clearly—the posture, the stare, the costume—all very convincing.
Eulalie straightened her shoulders, regained her composure, and turned back to Ana with a condescending smirk. "I suppose you think this little performance is going to impress me? A handsome face and a rented suit don't make a husband, darling. Anyone can hire an actor for an afternoon."
She tossed the certificate back onto the table as if it were worthless trash.
But what really angered Eulalie wasn’t this. What really annoyed her was that she had already arranged a marriage for Ana.
Mr. Butler had agreed to invest in the company. All she needed to do was wait until Ana turned 25, then force her to marry Mr. Butler and get that investment. But she never expected that Ana would get married so suddenly.
Eulalie's face twisted with frustration. "Do you have any idea what you've done? I had everything arranged for you. Everything! Mr. Butler was going to marry you, Ana. He was your future. And you threw it away for... for this?"
She gestured dismissively toward Austen, who stood silently by the door, his grey eyes unreadable.
Ana's lips curved into a cold smile. "Mr. Butler? The one who's been married four times? The one who's old enough to be my grandfather? That was your plan for me, Mother?"
"Don't be so dramatic," Eulalie snapped. "He's wealthy. He's connected. He would have given you a comfortable life—and more importantly, he would have kept the company afloat. Do you think I wanted to do this? I had no choice! But you—you had to ruin everything by running off and marrying some penniless stranger!"
Ana's expression did not waver. She picked up the certificate, folded it calmly, and placed it back in her bag. Then she lifted her gaze to meet her mother's.
"I didn't ruin anything. I saved myself. And I'm not here to discuss your schemes. I'm here to claim what my father left me. First I want all the shares of the hotel that belonged to my father. And second Coleen must move out of the Gardner residence immediately."
The Gardner residence on the Upper East Side was the small cottage where her father lived with Eulalie right after they got married. It’s filled with all of her childhood memories.
Later, she moved to a small apartment in the city with her grandparents. The Gardner residence remained vacant for many years.
Just two years ago,her mother actually gave Coleen Gardner’s mansion as her practice space. The place was filled with Coleen’s belongings.And now, she must get back everything that her father left her as a legacy!
Eulalie turned back to Ana, her voice hardening. "Fine. You want The Gardner residence? Then divorce him，then married Mr. Butler, the keys are yours. "
Ana stared at her mother for a long moment. Then, slowly, she reached into her bag and pulled out a thick folder. She placed it on the table and opened it, revealing a set of legal documents.
"Do you recognize this, Mother? It's a copy of Father's original will. Signed, sealed, and filed with the courts. It clearly states that upon my marriage before the age of twenty-five, all assets—including the hotel shares and the villa—revert to me immediately. There is no clause that requires my marriage to be approved by you. There is no clause that requires me to stay married. There is only one condition: marriage by twenty-five. And I have met it."
Eulalie's face paled. She stared at the document, her mouth opening and closing. "That's... that's not how it works. I have control over the estate. I'm the executor!"
"Not anymore," Ana said quietly. "The will names Grandma as the secondary executor. The moment I fulfilled the condition, her authority supersedes yours. I've already spoken to her. She's fully behind me."
The lawyer, who had been observing the exchange with growing discomfort, cleared his throat. "Mrs. Love, I've reviewed the original will before. The young lady is correct. The condition is binary—married or not married by the deadline. There are no additional stipulations regarding the duration or approval of the marriage. Legally, Ms. Gardner has fulfilled the terms."
Eulalie's hands were shaking. She looked from the document to Ana, then to the silent man by the door, then back to the document. Her carefully laid plans—the inheritance, the company, the marriage to Mr. Butler—were crumbling before her eyes.
"Fine. Take your precious villa. But don't think this is over. The hotel shares that I still hold fifty percent of that company. My brother runs it day to day, and he answers to me. If you think you can just waltz in and take over, you're delusional."
Ana paused, turning back slightly.
"I'm not delusional. I'm patient. And Mother—I've been watching you for years. I know exactly where the bodies are buried. So keep your half. For now. But I'm coming for it."
