Everyone in the boardroom stopped talking when Ethan Kade, the rich CEO of KadeTech, leaned back in his leather chair, smirked, and said, “I’ll marry the first girl who walks through that door.” The words hung in the air like a dare, a challenge, or maybe a confession that was buried by pride.
People at the conference table looked at him, not sure if he was joking. It wasn’t like Ethan Kade was known for being sentimental. People knew him for his numbers, his cutthroat business deals, and for being the youngest tech billionaire in New York. In his gleaming, titanium-covered life, love, romance, and even relationships didn’t seem to matter.
But he had said it now. And no one was brave enough to laugh.
Ethan didn’t enjoy weddings. He had just gotten back from his younger brother’s wedding in Tuscany, which cost a lot of money. People drank “forever” like it was a brand of champagne and love was like a prize.
He didn’t enjoy how everyone kept looking at him and wondering when it would be his turn, as if getting married was something he should have done a long time ago. As if getting married made someone complete.
He chuckled and rolled his eyes the whole time. When he got home, he hated anything that looked like commitment even more.
When Travis, Ethan’s executive assistant, joked that Ethan would never settle down because he was “afraid of real connection,” Ethan lost it.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll prove to you that all of this is nonsense.”
“How exactly?” Travis was curious.
He pointed to the conference room’s glass door and stated, “I’ll marry the first girl who comes through that door.”
A quiet murmur of astonishment spread through the gathering.
“Are you serious?” Lauren, his marketing manager, inquired.
“I’m serious,” Ethan said. “Come in, let’s talk, and then I’ll ask you to marry me.” That’s all there is to it. Love is work. That’s it. I’ll sign the papers, put on the ring, and smile for the cameras. “Let’s see how long it lasts.”
People glanced at him with a mix of disbelief and worry on their faces. Ethan, on the other hand, didn’t care. He really meant it, or at least he thought he did.
There were footsteps echoing down the hall outside the room.
Someone was on their way.
The team turned their chairs around to see who fate—or craziness—would pick.
Then the door opened.
Ethan stopped moving.
evacue wave aited rejection.
She really shouldn’t have been there.
She wasn’t wearing a stiff blazer or expensive clothes. She wore jeans, a gray T-shirt with a fading bookshop logo, and a lot of mail that had been put in the wrong place.
Her hair was messy from the summer heat and she had a sloppy ponytail. She stopped and looked around, surprised by the unexpected attention that was on her.
She picked up the letter and said, “I believe this is the wrong floor.” “Where I’m from…”
“Who are you?” Ethan got up from his chair and spoke up.
He blinked. “I’m…Olivia.” Lane Olivia. “I work in the cafeteria on the fifth floor.”
Everyone in the room laughed loudly, but Ethan didn’t. He didn’t even blink.
His heart, which generally barely raced ———- to be effective, jumped.
I wanted to know more about her for some reason. It didn’t match at all with his plans and goals for the next three months or year.
He should have laughed and said it was all a joke, but the words he had just shouted—”I’m going to marry the first girl who walks through that door”—felt like a challenge from the world itself.
He didn’t know what to say for the first time in a long time.
Olivia raised an eyebrow as she became more and more confused. “Is this a meeting of some kind?”
“Yes,” Ethan said, and he became better. “Yes, it is.” And now you’re in it.
Ethan thought about the scene again while he was at work. He couldn’t stop thinking about her: how she inclined her head in interest, how honest she was, and how little she cared about him.
As he went in, Travis said, “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
Ethan said, “I said I would.”
“She works at a coffee shop, Ethan.”
She is a female. You remember that was all that mattered?
But you stopped. You thought about it.
“I didn’t think she’d show up.”
“Are you really going to ask her to marry you?”
Ethan had a hard-to-read look on his face as he glanced out over the Manhattan cityscape. “Yes, I am.”
The man who thought love was a joke then started planning to ask a stranger who gave him the mail to marry him.
But he didn’t know that Olivia Lane was more than just a coffee shop worker.
And he had no idea what she was keeping from him.
Ethan Kade, a billionaire in the software business, claimed he would marry the first woman that walked into the conference room. He was astonished to find out that the woman was Olivia Lane, a quiet barista who was giving him mail that had been lost. He promised, though, and now he’s getting set to keep it. He doesn’t know that Olivia Lane is lying about who she is.
Two days later, Ethan stood outside the coffee shop on the fifth level of his building. That day was the first time he had ever been there. A dozen interns and associates who were intrigued looked at him as he stepped in. Some acted like they didn’t see it, while others talked on their phones.
Behind the counter, Olivia was cleaning the espresso machine. She was humming to herself and had her hair up.
He made a cough.
She was astonished and looked up. “Oh. You again.
“Me again,” he said with a smile.
“Are you still trying to turn that meeting into a soap opera?”
He pulled a little velvet box out of his pocket and said, “I really came to ask you to marry me.”
Olivia saw.
Then she laughed. “Really?”
“Just as serious as I said it.”
“That’s… totally crazy.”
“I know,” she said. “But it’s really good.”
When she leaned over the counter, her face softened. “Hey, I don’t know what you’re doing, Mr. Director. You could be bored or trying to make a point. But I don’t gamble on anyone else.
“It’s not a bet,” Ethan said. “It’s a statement.” A leap. And I want you to come along.
He came to a stop. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Then let me know.”
Ethan and Olivia got married legally three weeks later in a small ceremony on the roof of KadeTech’s main office. It happened out of the blue. “Tech mogul marries mystery girl from coffee shop” was in the news a lot. People who write about politics laughed. Analysts took a guess. What do you think about Ethan Kade? He smiled for the cameras, held her hand, and acted like it was meant to be.
But something was going on behind the scenes.
Because Olivia wasn’t the person she said she was.
Her real name wasn’t Olivia Lane. Anna Whitmore used to be an investigative journalist, but she disappeared from the public eye after authoring an article that almost brought down a multibillion-dollar biotech company that had ties to KadeTech.
Her most recent piece has gotten her into a lot of difficulty with the law. Threats. A building that caught fire. She had changed her name, gone into hiding, and found a low-key work at a coffee shop as “Olivia.”
And then, by pure chance, she walked into that room.
Now she was married to Ethan Kade.
At first, she told herself that she would get out of this quickly. A few scheduled visits. A peaceful divorce. A deal about money might even be possible. But it got harder the longer she stayed.
Ethan wasn’t the mean, cold businessman she assumed he would be. Yes, he was quite serious. But also smart. Weak. He didn’t get much sleep. He was interested in books. He let her talk—really talk—and occasionally she could see he was looking at her like he was trying to figure out how someone like her had come into his life.
The thing that scared her the most was that she began to feel sorry for him.
But her history wasn’t over yet.
One night, Ethan saw a manila envelope on the marble kitchen counter. There was no address to send it back to. There were three things inside: a picture of Olivia—or Anna—standing in front of a courtroom, a copy of the article she wrote under her own name, and a note that said,
Does your new wife still think it’s okay to keep secrets? Tell her about Halvex Biotech.
Ethan read the contents twice. And again.
There was a storm in his eyes. She had told him a falsehood. Her name, her story, and the mail that was sent to the wrong address. Was it supposed to happen? Or was it a prank?
When she went home that night, he was there waiting for her.
He held up the image and asked, “Who are you?”
Olivia, no, Anna, halted.
He set the envelope down on the table. “Tell me the truth.” The whole truth.
He looked down and took a deep breath. “I didn’t want this to happen.” I swear. At first, I didn’t know who you were.
“Do you think I will believe that?”
He said softly, “No.” “But I didn’t lie to hurt you.” I was hiding. Ash insp spell.straightforward scoffed. I never thought I would be in that room. “I never thought you’d choose me.”
They were quiet with each other.
Finally, he whispered, “I was trying to go away.” I entered into your world and realized I didn’t want to leave anymore.
He stared at her. The woman he married on a whim, who now knew half of his secrets, had secrets of her own. Things that could injure other people.
But a part of him hurt at the thought of losing her.
He said, “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
He said, “I don’t blame you.” “But I didn’t come here to kill you.” I came to stay alive.
He turned away and clenched his jaw.
He then stated in a low voice, “But maybe we can stop hiding together.” We both do.
Epilogue: Six Months After
They stayed together. They didn’t live in a storybook world either. Ethan, on the other hand, called and ended KadeTech’s agreement with Halvex Biotech. Anna wrote one last piece, this time using her true name, in which she told the truth about Halvex and came out of hiding.
What about Ethan?
He didn’t think of love as a business deal anymore.
The girl who walked through the door changed his life in more than one way.
She saved him.