Chapter 2 - A Marriage Before Sunrise
Dominic answered on the first ring.
“You called.”
Cassidy hated how unsurprised he sounded.
“Don't make me regret it yet.”
“I'm in the car outside.”
Cassidy turned toward the rain-covered windows.
A black sedan waited across the street beneath the elevated tracks.
“You never left?”
“I moved the car.”
“That isn't leaving.”
“No.”
Cassidy rubbed her forehead.
“I want my lawyer involved.”
“Good.”
“I want everything written down.”
“Good.”
“And if there's one thing in that contract that gives you control over Emily, my money, my decisions or anything else that belongs to me, I'm walking away.”
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Can you stop saying good?”
“No.”
Cassidy almost hung up.
Instead she said, “Come back inside.”
Three minutes later Dominic returned with another person.
The woman beside him looked to be around forty, wearing a navy coat over professional clothes. Her black hair was pulled into a low knot.
“Mara Chen,” she said, offering Cassidy her hand. “General counsel for Vale Meridian.”
Cassidy did not take it immediately.
“You were waiting too?”
Mara glanced at Dominic.
“He called me at one forty-eight.”
Cassidy stared at him.
“That was before I said anything about needing a husband.”
Dominic pulled out a chair.
“I was already dealing with my own deadline.”
That made more sense.
Not much.
But some.
Jerry emerged from the kitchen and stared at the three of them.
“Cassidy?”
“Long story.”
Jerry pointed at Dominic.
“Funeral director?”
Dominic looked at Cassidy.
She looked away.
“Apparently.”
Jerry grunted.
“If anybody needs me, I'll be pretending none of this is happening.”
He disappeared again.
Mara opened a slim laptop.
“I need to be very clear before we discuss anything,” she said. “Marriage is not a guaranteed solution to Cassidy's guardianship problem.”
“I know,” Cassidy replied.
“And we will not represent to the court that this relationship existed before tonight.”
Dominic nodded.
Cassidy studied him.
“You're actually okay telling them we met tonight?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It sounds true.”
For reasons Cassidy couldn't explain, that answer made him less frightening.
Mara continued.
“Dominic's offer includes residence in a property he owns, access to a dedicated childcare service for Emily, transportation and temporary household expenses.”
Cassidy interrupted.
“No allowance.”
Mara looked at her.
“I didn't say allowance.”
“It sounds like one.”
“Then what would you accept?”
Cassidy thought.
“Employment.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“At Vale Meridian?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because then you become my husband, landlord and boss. I'd need permission to breathe.”
Mara's mouth almost curved into a smile.
Dominic leaned back.
“What do you want?”
“A real job.”
“You already have one.”
“I have two disappearing jobs and no benefits.”
Dominic considered that.
“We own hotels.”
“You just said I wouldn't work for you.”
“You said you didn't want me to control your employment. The hotels have independent management.”
“Still your company.”
“Technically.”
“No.”
Mara tapped her pen.
“There are placement agencies the company uses. Completely independent.”
Cassidy nodded.
“That.”
Dominic said nothing.
Cassidy noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You don't like it.”
“I like efficient solutions.”
“I like exits.”
Their eyes met.
For a moment, something subtle changed in Dominic's expression.
Respect.
“All right,” he said.
They spent two hours negotiating.
Cassidy wanted separate bedrooms.
Guaranteed privacy.
No expectation of affection.
No control over her sister.
No restrictions on employment.
No financial penalty for ending the arrangement.
No requirement that she attend business events unless necessary.
Dominic added one term.
“No interviews.”
“Fine.”
“No discussing the trust publicly.”
“Fine.”
“No secretly recording private business conversations.”
Cassidy stared.
“Do people normally have to put that in marriage contracts?”
“In my family?”
“Yes.”
That answer chilled her.
By four thirty, Rachel Kim had joined by video call.
Cassidy's attorney read every page.
Twice.
Rachel finally removed her glasses.
“Cassidy.”
“Yes?”
“Can I speak to you privately?”
Dominic and Mara moved toward the other end of the diner.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“This is unusual.”
“I noticed.”
“The contract itself isn't exploitative.”
Cassidy exhaled.
“But?”
“But marrying somebody you've known for two hours is not something I'm going to tell you is wise.”
Cassidy looked toward Dominic.
He stood near the windows with his hands in his coat pockets.
“I don't need wise.”
“What do you need?”
“My sister.”
Rachel's expression softened.
“Marriage won't guarantee that.”
“I know.”
“Then why do it?”
“Because I'm losing the apartment in sixteen days. Because I have no childcare. Because every job I can get tomorrow pays barely enough for rent. Because Emily's temporary placement expires this week.”
Rachel was silent.
Cassidy swallowed.
“If I walk into that courtroom the same person I was yesterday, nothing changes.”
“And if you walk in married to Dominic Vale, everything changes.”
“Exactly.”
“That could be good or bad.”
Cassidy looked at the ring.
“I know.”
Rachel studied her through the screen.
“Then make sure you aren't confusing a lifeboat with dry land.”
Cassidy nodded.
When the call ended, Dominic returned.
“Still here?”
Cassidy looked at him.
“Unfortunately.”
For the first time, he actually smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
At five seventeen, Mara informed them of another problem.
“The marriage license waiting period.”
Cassidy's stomach sank.
“So that's it.”
“Not necessarily,” Mara said.
“There's a judicial waiver process for special circumstances.”
Cassidy laughed tiredly.
“You have a lawyer for everything, don't you?”
Dominic answered.
“Almost.”
By six, the diner began preparing for breakfast customers.
Jerry made eggs nobody ate.
Cassidy changed out of her uniform in the employee bathroom and put on jeans and an old sweater.
Dominic's driver took them downtown.
Chicago was still dark.
Cassidy sat in the back seat beside Dominic, leaving as much space between them as possible.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally Cassidy asked, “Why did your mother put that condition in the trust?”
Dominic watched streetlights slide across the window.
“She believed marriage made people accountable.”
“Was she right?”
“No.”
Cassidy glanced at him.
“That's reassuring.”
“My father was married for thirty-one years.”
“And?”
“He was still capable of being selfish.”
Something in Dominic's voice ended the subject.
Cassidy looked down at the ring box in her lap.
“Why use her ring?”
Dominic was quiet.
“Because I didn't have another.”
“That can't possibly be true.”
“It was the only one that meant something.”
The answer affected her more than she wanted.
“Doesn't that make this worse?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Dominic turned toward her.
“Because even if this marriage starts as an arrangement, I refuse to begin it with something meaningless.”
Cassidy had no answer.
At seven forty-two they entered a courthouse through a side entrance.
Mara carried documents.
Rachel arrived ten minutes later carrying two coffees and the expression of a woman reconsidering every career decision she had ever made.
There were forms.
Questions.
Waiting.
A judge reviewed the emergency waiver privately.
At nine twenty-six, it was approved.
Cassidy stood in a small restroom staring at herself in the mirror.
She had no wedding dress.
Mara had sent an assistant to a nearby department store.
The woman returned with three options.
Cassidy chose the least expensive.
A simple cream-colored dress.
Twenty-nine dollars after clearance.
She left her hair loose.
No flowers.
No makeup artist.
No family.
At nine fifty-three, Cassidy stood outside a small civil ceremony room.
Dominic waited at the opposite end of the hallway.
Black suit.
Black tie.
His mother's ring in his hand.
Cassidy walked toward him.
Halfway there, she stopped.
Dominic noticed immediately.
“You can leave.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“The contract isn't signed until after the ceremony.”
“You would let me walk away now?”
“Yes.”
“You lose control of the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And you're okay with that?”
“No.”
His answer surprised her.
Dominic continued.
“But it has to be your decision.”
Cassidy looked toward Rachel.
Her attorney gave no signal.
No encouragement.
No warning.
It truly was Cassidy's choice.
She thought about Emily.
The hospital room.
Her mother's hand squeezing hers.
The apartment notice.
The school absences.
Thirty-seven dollars.
Then she looked at Dominic.
“I have one more condition.”
“What?”
“Never promise Emily something you don't mean.”
Dominic's expression became completely serious.
“I won't.”
“Even if it makes things harder.”
“Yes.”
“Even if she cries.”
“Yes.”
Cassidy nodded.
“Then let's do it.”
At 10:04 a.m., Cassidy Miller married Dominic Vale.
There was no music.
No flowers.
No cheering.
Just fluorescent courthouse lighting, two lawyers, a clerk, a judge and one antique ring.
Dominic slid the band onto Cassidy's finger.
His hand was steady.
Hers wasn't.
When the judge pronounced them legally married, Cassidy expected something dramatic.
Thunder.
Regret.
A sudden realization that she had destroyed her life.
Instead she heard the ordinary hum of the air conditioner.
Dominic looked at her.
“Mrs. Vale?”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Cassidy is fine.”
“Understood.”
Rachel checked the time.
“It's 10:19.”
Cassidy's stomach dropped.
Her guardianship hearing began in forty-one minutes.
She lifted the skirt of her twenty-nine-dollar courthouse dress and started toward the elevators.
Dominic followed.
“Where are you going?”
“To court.”
“You're wearing that?”
Cassidy looked down.
“I'm definitely not going back to the diner first.”
For the second time that morning, Dominic smiled.
Then the elevator doors opened.
None of them noticed the man standing across the lobby holding a phone.
He had photographed the entire thing.
By the time Cassidy reached the guardianship courthouse, the photograph had already been sent to someone inside Vale Meridian.
May you like
And before noon, Dominic's uncle would know exactly who Cassidy Miller was.
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