Chapter 2

Oliver flashed the freshly issued marriage certificate, smiling with uninhibited arrogance. "Sorry, but Ms. Cole is now my wife."

Daniel looked absolutely stunned. "Audrey, what are you doing? Didn't I tell you we'd get married after Sarah has the baby?"

I cut him off. "Daniel, did you somehow forget? Our relationship was just a business arrangement."

Daniel said, "But..."

"No buts." I smiled coldly. "Did you really think I'd wait for you to have a baby with another woman? And then let me raise it? Where did you get that confidence?"

Daniel's face turned ashen. "So this is your way of getting back at me? Just because I'm taking care of Sarah while she's pregnant? Audrey, when did you get so petty?"

I almost burst out laughing at his twisted logic. "Petty? Sure, I'll own that. I sincerely congratulate you and your sweet, innocent first love. Hope you two stay blissfully happy forever."

With that, I looped my arm around Oliver's. "Honey, let's go home."

Oliver played along, leaning down to give me a quick peck on the lips. "Whatever you say, Mrs. Webster."

Daniel just stood there, his face shifting from pale to flushed and back again. I didn't look back once as I climbed into Oliver's car. When we shut the doors, laughter just burst out of me.

"Feeling good?" Oliver asked, shooting me a sideways glance as he started the car.

"Best feeling ever." I grinned, leaning back in my seat. "Thanks for helping me put on the show."

Oliver chuckled. "No trouble at all. Anything that gets under Daniel's skin, I'm more than happy to do."

I glanced over at him. "So, what does this marriage really mean..."

"We're both just getting what we want." Oliver cut me off. "You need to put Daniel in his place, and I need a shield from my family's matchmaking schemes. Looks like we're partners, right?"

I held out my hand. "Partners."

Oliver took my hand, and this time, he didn't let go. His thumb slowly traced circles across the back of my hand, and a little shiver ran up my arm.

Then, in that low voice of his, he murmured, "But if we're going to play this game, we have to go all out. Ready to commit, Mrs. Webster?"

My heart did a little flip. What was that supposed to mean?

Oliver smirked teasingly. "Means from now on, we're going to put on the full act as a loving couple."

That night, hashtags like [Audrey Cole and Oliver Webster get married] and [Daniel Smith and Sarah Hess are having a baby] blew up online.

I was sprawled on the couch in Oliver's apartment, scrolling through the comments on my phone.

[Holy crap! What a plot twist! Wasn't Audrey supposed to get married to Daniel today?]

[Word is Daniel ditched her to be with Sarah, who's pregnant, so Audrey just went and married Oliver instead! She's such a badass!]

[So Sarah, that two-faced bitch, finally got what she wanted? Gross.]

[Is it just me, or is Oliver way hotter than Daniel? Audrey totally won the jackpot!]

Oliver strolled over with two glasses of red wine, handing one to me. "What's so captivating on your phone?"

I showed him the screen. "Our marriage just went viral."

Oliver leaned in to get a closer look, and the faint woody scent he wore made me unexpectedly flustered.

"Not bad," he commented.

Then he whipped out his own phone and snapped a pic of us on the spot.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a little suspicious.

Oliver, eyes still on his phone, said, "Posting this on social media. Since we're officially married, gotta announce it to the world."

Just a few moments later, his feed refreshed.

A photo of us together popped up with the caption: [My Mrs. Webster.] Followed by a red heart emoji.

My phone immediately blew up with notifications.

Daniel's name flashed on the screen, but I just hit decline.

"Not picking up?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"No point," I said, taking a sip of my wine. "He just wants to grill me about why I moved on so fast."

Oliver chuckled. "You think he actually believes you're jealous?"

"Knowing Daniel and his ego? Honestly, I wouldn't put it past him," I rolled my eyes.

Just as we were talking, Sarah suddenly dropped a new post.

She'd just uploaded a sonogram pic with a chirpy caption: [The joy that new life brings.] And she actually tagged both Daniel and me.

The comment section totally lit up in seconds.

[Is she seriously trying to poke at Audrey?]

[The homewrecker's really feeling herself, huh?]

[Audrey's hitched to Oliver now. Who the hell cares about Daniel?]

I gave a cold snicker, reposted Sarah's update, and typed: [Congrats. Just don't forget to remind Mr. Smith to pay child support on time. The kid needs their dads, after all.] I added a heart emoji.

As soon as I hit send, I switched off my phone and lifted my glass to Oliver. "Here's to finally escaping that dumpster fire."

Oliver tapped his glass against mine. "Cheers to landing myself a brilliant wife."

We exchanged a knowing smile and drained our glasses.