The day blurred for Ella.
Orders came and went, her hands moved on autopilot, and she responded to customers with the same polite smile she always did—but her mind was elsewhere.
Married?
She kept going back to the marriage certificate Nicholas Carter had handed her. No matter how many times she tried to make sense of it, her mind refused to accept it.
She had spent the last few years barely surviving. Between juggling multiple jobs, struggling to pay rent, and covering her mother's hospital bills, marriage had never once crossed her mind. Let alone a marriage to a billionaire she didn't even remember.
It had to be a mistake.
A cruel joke.
But deep down, she knew it wasn't.
The name on the paper was hers. The date matched up with her trip to Vegas two years ago. And the man she had met today—Nicholas—he wasn't the kind of person who made mistakes. He had come to her because he knew this was real.
So why didn't she?
Her thoughts circled back to Ryan.
As much as he frustrated her—as much as he took and took from her without giving anything back—he was all she had left.
The idea of being truly alone terrified her more than anything.
She had already lost her family, her status, the life she had once known. If she lost Ryan too, what would be left of her?
She had to find a way to end this before he found out.
The last thing she needed was for him to use this against her, to twist it into something ugly.
She caught Mia watching her out of the corner of her eye, concern flickering across her features. Ella forced a smile, pretending everything was fine. But she knew Mia wasn't convinced.
Still, she didn't push.
For that, Ella was grateful.
The rest of the shift crawled by, and by the time she left, the weight on her shoulders felt unbearable.
She had barely stepped through the door of her apartment before sighing in relief.
Ryan wasn't home.
For once, she had a moment to breathe.
She dropped her bag by the door and leaned against the wall, pressing her palms against her face.
Her rent was due in a few days.
Her mother's medical bills were piling up again.
And now, she had a husband.
A bitter laugh slipped from her lips. She had no time for this. No energy to deal with whatever Nicholas Carter wanted from her.
She needed this fixed.
Fast.
Her gaze landed on the envelope sitting at the bottom of her bag, peeking out just enough to taunt her. She reached for it hesitantly, pulling out the marriage certificate once more.
Her eyes traced over the words, her name written so clearly beside his.
It felt like a bad dream.
She had to get this annulled.
But how?
Would Nicholas agree to that? Or would he make this complicated?
Something about him told her he wasn't the type to let things go so easily.
A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered his parting words.
"Then I'll make sure you do."
Her hands tightened around the paper.
She didn't know what kind of man he was. But she knew one thing.
She wasn't letting this marriage—this mistake—ruin her life any more than it already had.
She couldn't.