The Woman He Married

00. Prologue

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Zane exhaled calmly and grabbed the hem of her veil. He halted all of a sudden and seemed distracted. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead through the veil. He then hurriedly left down the aisle while answering a phone call.

That was pretty much the memories Mae Westbrook could recall about her wedding, which only involved her, Zane Williams, his mother, and the pastor. She was lawfully and religiously married to Zane Williams, a successful businessman - whose mother used to be Mae's father's partner in crime. Mae didn't know much about the family except that when her father was younger, Zane's grandparents took him in and raised him with their granddaughter, Isla Williams. Although years have passed and her father had moved out a long time ago, the family still kept in contact with them.

As for Mae and her sister, Ellie Westbrook, they only met the family after their mother's passing when they were little, and then when their father passed away - recently. Mae must've looked like a mess that day, because she remembered waking up in the bedroom and Isla coming in to check on her. She fainted. That was when they had a conversation and Isla told her to come to their place if the road gets rough.

Of course, life got tougher for Mae and Ellie after their father's death. They never get along to begin with. Without talking things out with Mae, Ellie decided to keep everything to herself with the help of her lawyer boyfriend. Mae ended up losing everything and became homeless after Ellie came home with documents saying that she owns everything else but Mae, her clothes, and her ukulele which was gifted by her father in middle school.

She became homeless before her grieving process even ended. Mae then slept at a friend's house for a couple of weeks while also looking for a job. When she overheard her friend talking to the landlord and sounded like they're in trouble for keeping her around, Mae knew she had to leave. She eventually had to look for Isla as her last resort.

Isla then seemed to have changed her mind about the offer. Well, the deal was still there, but it suddenly came with another deal in a form of Isla's only child, Zane. She asked Mae's hand for marriage and Mae hesitated at first. She even spent a night at a library which opens overnight, pretending she's doing work before falling asleep on the desk.

Mae couldn't find another way out of her current state of misery, so she decided to accept the deal with whatever it comes with. And there she was on the first evening of her marriage, standing in a quiet house and her husband was nowhere to be seen. He left her at the aisle as soon as they got married, so Mae didn't expect much out of it.

"I just need a home, that's all. Let's not think too much about it, Mae. You're good." She hummed to herself as she walked into the kitchen and started preparing dinner. She made dinner for two, just in case Zane wants to eat when he gets home. Isla did say that Zane is the type to spend most of his time at the office, so Mae didn't have to worry about things getting awkward.

'Although it would be nice if you could change his mindset,' Isla said.

"Did you manage to get a place to stay?" Alaia, her friend, asked over the phone.

"Yes, thankfully. I'm currently making dinner," Mae hummed. "I will definitely pay you back for helping me out."

"Don't. I'll feel bad if you do. I'm just glad you're safe, Mae. You could have stayed a little longer," Alaia sighed.

"Don't worry," Mae chuckled. She turned around and jumped, almost spilling the pasta on the pan when she saw a man standing on the other side of the kitchen counter. She stuttered before whispering into the phone, "Hey, I'll call you later, okay?"