Rush

Chapter 1

Walking out of the hospital, Alicia Mayer hovered on the edge of anxiety and desperation, her face ghostly pale. The doctor’s words still rang in her ears. “Ms. Mayer, we’ve been waiting for three days. I can only give you till the end of today. If your brother’s medical bill isn’t paid by midnight, the hospital will stop his treatment.”

Alicia didn’t know what to do, her hands were tied–she couldn’t come up with the cash for her brother’s medical expenses in such a short time or even reach out to her boyfriend, Matthew Gibson, whose phone kicked over to voicemail.

With no other choice, Alicia grabbed a cab to Matthew’s house ile was super private, and she’d never drop by without an invite. But today was an exception.

When Alicia got to the place, she only saw the lights were on. With a frown, she hurried upstairs and found the bedroom door cracked open, a woman’s moans floating to her ears. It was Fiona Mayer; Alicia was familiar with her sound. Alicia’s anxiety perked up as she nudged the door to get a clear view of the room.

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Then she saw her boyfriend, Matthew-lying on the king-size bed which was s***d with petals, with Fiona cuddling in his arms. Before Alicia could get the picture, she heard him whisper Fiona with affection, “Fiona, I love you.”

Then came Fiona’s pitiful voice, “Mat, I love you too, but the Slater family picked me to marry that disabled Slater guy. My dad talked to Alicia, but she’s gone astray. What if she won’t…”

Seeing Fiona’s tears, Matthew, upset, answered, “No way, that’ll never happen. Alicia’s such a dummy-she totally bought my words. She’s convinced I’m head over heels for her. I’ll just play along, pretend she and I are heading down the aisle, and get her to show up at the wedding. At that time, the Slaters won’t admit they got the wrong girl, and they won’t let her back out.”

Alicia stood frozen, shocked by what she heard.

Dalton Slater, set to inherit the family fortune, became disabled in an accident, and his first love ditched the country instead of marrying him, making him Hofcaster’s gossip.

The top-tier Slater family wouldn’t stand for the jokes. So Ellen Slater, Dalton’s grandmother and the head of the Slater family, decided to push for the wedding with another girl.

The Mayers were more than willing-they never thought they’d mix with high society. So trading a daughter was a sweet deal. Fiona always wanted this-the Slaters were loaded, and Dalton’s condition was no biggie; with all their staff, she wouldn’t need to do much.

Yet, Fiona wasn’t cool with Dalton’s inability to be a full husband, so she h**ked up with Alicia’s man, Matthew.The Gibson family wasn’t as rich as the Slater family, but still way above the Mayer family. Bagging the Gibson name was enough for Fiona; she didn’t need to be Mrs. Slater-Mrs. Gibson sounded just fine.

The sounds from the bedroom turned bolder. Alicia’s hands trembled with rage. ‘Fiona, Matthew, you’ll regret this, Alicia vowed silently. But taking on the Gibsons, let alone her own family, was

1127 Thu AUTEL

Chapter 1

more than she could handle alone. Just then, her plione rang.

“Ah… who, who’s there?! Mat, baby, what’s happening? I thought you said we’d have the place to ourselves… Fiona’s voice shot through the door, s**d with panic.

Alicia was in such a mess, she barely managed to answer her ringing phone. “Ms. Mayer, I’m really sorry, but your brother just had a terrible emergency, and we… we couldn’t save him. He’s gone…” The phone slipped through her fingers and crashed on the floor.

Two days sped by. Alicia’s brother’s funeral was a low-key affair with just her in attendance; not one other Mayer showed up to say goodbye.

As if on cue, right when the service wrapped up, her family hau ner change out of black and into a wedding dress, in a rush to send her off.

Alicia didn’t kick up a fuss. With the Slater fortune and influence backing her, she didn’t have a thing to worry about the small-time Mayer or Gibson families. She saw her next steps crystal clear – become Mrs. Dalton Slater and have Fiona and Matthew rue the day they crossed her. And yeah, she’d play the devoted wife part without a hitch.

The Slater’s “wedding of the year” was the buzz of Hofcaster, pulling off without a glitch at the Slater Manor. People expecting a disaster at the altar were zapped when Alicia stepped in. The crowd was whispering up a storm, guessing who she was.

Down below, Matthew, in all his upper-class vibe, didn’t hide his shock at seeing Alicia. In her white dress and veil, with lipstick popping under the spotlight, she was spellbinding. ‘Is this the same Alicia? Since when did she look like an absolute knockout? Matthew wondered as he swore his were playing tricks on him.

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Post-ceremony, a sleek Slater limo drove Alicia up to Dalton’s posh hillside home. Lillian Bradley, the maid, gave Alicia a lightning-fast tour of the huge place, and left her alone in Dalton’s bedroom.

Alicia locked onto the man on the bed-Dalton, her brand-new husband. He was big stuff in Hofcaster, a real powerhouse with his own empire. But his glory days crashed after the accident.

His face was ghostly pale, though it couldn’t shadow his handsome, chiseled features or those deep- set eyes. He still had a powerful aura, even just lying there.

If it weren’t for his accident, Alicia would never have scored a guy like this. She studied him and realized he wasn’t responding. She called his name, and even poked his cheek a bit. Nada. He was completely still. So that was what they meant by “his inability to be a full husband”; Dalton was basically… a vegetable.

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