Marriage Lottery: Heaven Sign Or Hell Ticket Chapter 10
I froze.
Then I swallowed hard.
“Hold on… Mr. Whitmore, the story changed a little too fast. My mind can’t keep up.”
“So what you mean is… There was never a stand-in? And all those photos on your wall have always been me?”
Elias didn’t look away for even a second. He answered softly, “Yes.”
My entire worldview felt like it had been kicked apart.
I slapped my thigh, nearly breaking down. “You… you should have said that earlier!”
“If I’d known earlier, I could’ve spent my five million allowance every month with a clear conscience!”
“All this time, I was spending my own money? What a twist.”
Elias seemed momentarily stunned by my logic.
Silence settled inside the car again.
I rubbed my face and forced myself to think straight.
Two lifetimes of memories tangled together, and my head throbbed.
I’d been tortured to death by Damian in my last life. In this one, all I wanted was money and survival.
Love? No. Absolutely not. That was a luxury I didn’t plan on touching.
—
But now someone was telling me the so-called contract… had been a decade-long confession from the start.
Honestly, this was more absurd than Vivian announcing she’d been reborn.
Elias lowered his gaze.
“In high school, I was no one. All I could do was wait for you on that road by the school and watch you walk home.”
“Later, things happened with my family and I was sent abroad. When I returned and wanted to find you, I heard you were getting married.”
“I didn’t know the person marrying me was you.”
“I didn’t know your name. I only remembered the silhouette from ten years ago. I was afraid you wouldn’t like me, so I prayed for you in secret.”
“I was afraid you would look down on me. But at the same time, I hoped you live a good life.”
He spoke slowly.
I listened… and my emotions twisted into something I couldn’t name.
So what I thought was a transactional marriage… turned out to be a romance all along.
Ridiculous.
I started laughing. And somewhere in between, my eyes began to sting.
—
I wiped my face and glared at him, “So… you had a crush on me?”
A faint red climbed up Elias’s ears, but he still nodded.
I lifted my chin proudly, “Well, your taste is pretty good.”
The car drove smoothly back to the estate.
When I stepped out, Elias naturally reached for my hand.
His palm was warm. I tried pulling away, but failed.
He tightened his hold.
Eventually, I just let him do whatever he wanted.
Inside the house, for the first time, the place actually felt like a home.
I shook off his hand, ran up the stairs, and kicked open the door to the third-floor study.
Elias followed behind me, watching as I stood before the wall of photos.
I looked at each one carefully.
Me eating a burger at McDonald’s during summer break in my second year of high school.
Me waiting at the bus stop during a freezing senior winter.
Me studying in the university library.
All those years, without me knowing… someone had been quietly following my footsteps.
—
My nose burned, tears threatening to fall.
I turned sharply toward the doorway where Elias stood. “Elias Whitmore.”
“What?”
“I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
I took a deep breath, wearing the most serious expression I could muster.
“Now that I’m not a stand-in anymore, but the real one standing right in front of you…”
“Shouldn’t my benefits be upgraded?”
“Double identity means double salary. And when I go shopping from now on, my security detail should be doubled, too; my presence has to match my status!”
Elias stared at me quietly.
I thought he was about to be rendered speechless again.
But instead, he slowly walked toward me.
He stopped a single step away, took something from his pocket, and held it out to me.
He opened it.
It was our marriage license.
—
“The contract is void now.”
“This replaces it.”
“No expiration. No salary.”
His voice was steady, firm.
“But all my bank cards are yours. The company is yours. And I’m yours.”
“Aria… will you have me?”