Chapter 1: Marriage registry
"Hey! Are you deaf?!" A loud yell from behind shattered her thoughts. The fragile, lean young woman jolted in surprise, heart pounding as she spun toward the source of the commotion. She was standing directly in front of a car, its headlights flashing at her. The driver had his head out the window, hurling curses, clearly furious.
She gasped, glanced around, and quickly crossed the street the moment she noticed the stares.
Breathing heavily, she tried to recall how she ended up there, but the rising murmur of voices around her broke her focus.
"Is she okay?" The whispers reached her ears as she lifted her head, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she met the eyes of several bystanders. They were all staring at her like she was insane, and honestly, she couldn’t blame them. She had just nearly been hit by a car.
Her gaze dropped to her hands. That’s when reality hit her again, she was still clutching the marriage certificate.
For a moment, she wished the car had hit her.
Just when it felt like her life was finally turning around, she was told she was married to a man she had never even seen before. The name printed on the document: Mr. Blackthorn. And there was only one Blackthorn in the entire city. A name most people avoided saying aloud. Some called him the usurper of Westview Medical Hospital while others called him the founder. No one really knew the full truth, but she didn’t care about his reputation.
All she has ever wanted was to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor and marry the man she loved.
She had already endured years of cruelty under her stepmother’s roof, only to be thrown into a worse nightmare.