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The ride to Adrien's house was silent but comforting. I unpinned my veil and ruffled my hair before rolling down the window and the cool night breeze hit my face making me sigh. I looked at the night sky and kept thinking about how my life had changed in such a short span of time. A week ago, I was a financially struggling girl who had no plans of getting married. And now, I am the wife of a billionaire.

I felt someone's eyes on me and I turned around. As I did, Adrien turned his head the other way and acted like he wasn't staring at me a while ago. I ignored it and went back to my thoughts and before I knew it, the car was parked in the driveway of a tall complex. We both got out of the car and Adrien led the way to the elevator. We stopped on the top-most floor, a penthouse. He unlocked the door and we both went inside. The interior of the house was very impressive. Not very fancy but quite decent and luxurious.

We went inside further and he stopped in front of a door. "This one is your room. All your belongings have been shifted here." He explained. "That one there is my room, and the room beside that is my study." He pointed towards the left and I nodded at him. He returned a stern nod and took a few steps to leave but then stopped and looked at me. "As I said before, our marriage is just for a show. I will not interfere in your life and I expect the same from you." He said, trying not to sound rude.

"I know. And I will keep my side of the promise." I replied to him. He turned back and walked to his room and I entered mine.

I was truly stunned to see the room. It was large, literally half the size of my whole house in Brooklyn. Getting myself out of the gown, I hopped inside the bathroom and had my tiredness washed out with a hot shower. The fact that the room had a walk-in closet did not surprise me anymore. What actually surprised me was that the closet did not only have my belongings but also a few luxury brand clothes and accessories. Anyway, I wore my shorts and t-shirt and plopped on the very soft bed and sleep engulfed me in no time.

I woke up next morning to the shrill sound of my phone's alarm that I had forgotten to turn off. It was 6:30 in the morning and though it was early, I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. I did my morning routine and changed into something presentable. For the next seven minutes, I thought whether going out of the room would be the right thing to do. But then, I couldn't lock myself in here for the whole day, so I slowly opened the door and peeked around in case Adrien might be out there.

For some reason, I wanted to avoid him.

On finding the way clear, I took small steps and made my way to the kitchen. I filled a glass with water for myself and began to drink it. Right when I took the last sip, a sudden voice made me choke on the water.

"Can I get some water too, please?" Coughing, I turned around to see Adrien drenched in sweat. He wore a black gym vest and green pants that had my eyes lingering over his muscular arms. His chest heaved on a higher pace and sweat dripping from his wet hair under a black cap, to his neck, made me gulp hard. Maybe he was back from a jog or gym.

"Did I startle you?" He asked and I realized that I had stopped coughing.

"Y-yes. You came out of nowhere." He chuckled at my mumbling and I passed him the water he asked for. My mouth dried up as I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down while he gulped down all the water in one go.

Snap out of it, Crystal!

I scolded myself and averted my eyes from him. "I'll be back." He said and went to his room. I looked around the house for some time, appreciating the interior. I slid open the glass doors of the balcony and let the morning breeze caress my face.

The doorbell rang and I jogged towards it. I opened it to see a lady, who looked a few years older, standing with a bright smile.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Hi. You must be Adrien's wife." She said and I skeptically nodded. Does she know him?

"I am Lily. I work here as a cook." She smiled at me and I thought that I should let her in.

"Adrien informed me about you, but I guess not you about me." She said while making her way to the kitchen and I quietly followed. She was about to say something further but was interrupted by Adrien.

"Morning, Lily." He came out of his room in formal attire with his coat and tie in hand.

"Good Morning." They smiled at each other and Adrien then looked at me.

"If the introduction isn't done yet, let me do it. Crystal, this is Lily, she has been my helper and cook for many years. And Lily, meet Crystal, my wife." He did the honors.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Russell." She smiled politely.

I still wasn't used to that name.

"Nice to meet you too, Lily. Please call me Crystal." I smiled back at her.

"Is there something you both would like to eat for breakfast?" She asked and we both denied so she got started with omelettes and toast.

Adrien asked me to follow him to his study and I did. It was a cozy room with a desk, chairs and a small couch in the middle, surrounded by high bookshelves with numerous files and books. He asked me to sit on the couch and then opened one of the drawers of his desk and took a chequebook out. I quietly observed him as he wrote something and tore two cheques before sitting across me on the couch.

"Here. Take these." He passed me two blank cheques and I looked at him, puzzled. "For your debts. It's my end of the deal." He said and then it clicked me. I nodded while looking at the cheques. I felt embarrassed for not being able to take care of my own problems. Deep down it hurt my pride but I tried to convince myself thinking that in some way, I have helped him too.

"Clear all your debts and come back in one piece. I will ask Martin to take you to Brooklyn." I didn't know who Martin was so I questioned him and he said he was his bodyguard / driver.

"I can manage on my own." I said. I didn't need someone to tag along with me.

"You can, but I won't let you. They've been trying to put their hands on you. No way in hell I'm letting you go to a wicked, hungry wolf like man all alone. And Martin can be trusted. Let him take you." Adrien said casually and I won't lie that it felt good to have someone look after you. Even if it's just for formality.

I agreed with him and decided to go to Brooklyn that very day. We made our way back to the dining room where Lily was setting the breakfast for us. Before we could get seated, Adrien took his tie that was on the chair and went to Lily.

"Lily, can you please help." She looked at him and passed a playful smile while taking the tie from him. But that smile faded away and she frowned.

"Shouldn't you ask your wife to help you now, young man?" Adrien looked taken aback at her question and glanced at me.

Wait, did he not know how to knot a tie?

I almost chuckled at the thought.

Adrien scratched his neck in embarrassment and Lily handed me the tie. "Crystal, please help your husband with the tie." I couldn't hold back the chuckle as Adrien slowly came towards me, looking at the floor.

With an amused smile on my lips, I moved closer to him and raised the collar of his shirt. "The heir of a multi-millionaire company, a soon to be businessman, does not know how to knot a tie." I giggled while sliding the silk tie around his neck and felt his glare on me.

"There's nothing funny about it." He said with his gritted teeth while his ear turned beet-red. I should have been afraid of his glare and clenched jaw but his failed attempt to hide his embarrassment behind his angry facade was funny and very cute.

No words were shared for the next minute as I put my focus on the tie and absent-mindedly moved closer to him. I realized that when the scent of his manly cologne hit my senses. I couldn't stop myself from looking up at him and found his eyes already on me. This was the first time I had been so close to him. Boy, those blue eyes were mesmerising. They were as deep as an ocean and it was so hard for me to take my eyes off it. I took my own sweet time to study the features of his perfectly sculpted face.

As if someone had paused the time, we stood there looking at each other intently until the annoying screech of someone dragging a chair snapped us back to reality. Getting back to my senses, I took a step back and finished knotting the tie with supersonic speed while Adrien cleared his throat and looked all around the room as if for the first time.

We finished our breakfast in awkward silence and Adrien was ready to leave. "Martin will be here by ten. If you need something, ask Lily. She stays till six in the evening." I nodded at him. "See you." With that he left.

I spent some time with Lily who knew a lot about Adrien as she worked for him for six years. Apparently, Adrien thought of her as an elder sister. I avoided asking a lot of questions to not raise any doubts in her head but she herself was interested in letting me know about my so-called husband. Soon, Martin arrived and I took my leave to Brooklyn and went straight to Philip, throwing the cheques on his face. The good thing was, he could do nothing but glare at me as I threw smirks and insults at him that I had held back all this while. Being Adrien Russell's wife was a great advantage.

Martin's presence too, had him and his men in their limits. Martin looked like a man in his mid-thirties. His height was almost the same to that of Adrien's but his body was much bulkier in comparison. He took me back to Adrien's house and I thanked him as the day went on smoothly.

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I am not good with describing interiors so incase you wonder what the house looks like, here it is.

Crystal's Bedroom

Adrien's study

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