Flash Marriage To My Mysterious Patient

I am the undisputed ice queen of the ER, a doctor whose life is built on absolute control. A month ago, I impulsively married a stranger to create a legal shield against my ex-mentor's betrayal. Our prenup had one strict rule: a fake marriage with zero interference in each other's lives. But tonight, my "husband on paper" was wheeled into my ER, unconscious, reeking of cheap whiskey, and suffering from a bleeding ulcer. To authorize his emergency surgery, I had to sign the consent form as his wife, detonating a gossip bomb among my colleagues. Worse, his overbearing family found out he was hospitalized. To stop his terrifying mother from flying in and exposing our sham marriage, I had to lean over his hospital bed and take a fake, loving couple's selfie. I didn't understand why this disciplined math professor was suddenly drinking himself to death, nor why my chest tightened when he looked at me with exhausted eyes and begged for homemade soup. My perfectly ordered, untouchable life was crumbling into a chaotic mess, and I was losing my grip on the narrative. "We should probably spend some time together beforehand. We could be roommates." To prepare for an unavoidable family dinner and a wedding, my stranger husband just asked me to move into his apartment. The ultimate uncontrolled variable has just crossed the line, and our fake marriage is about to become dangerously real.

Chapters

Chapter 3

Kellie pushed open the door to her office and stepped inside. She shut the door firmly, cutting off the chaotic noise of the ER.

She leaned her back against the wood and exhaled a long, shaky breath. The cold, untouchable persona she had worn out in the hallway slipped off her shoulders like a heavy coat. Her heart was still racing, pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird.

She pushed off the door and walked to her desk. Her eyes landed on the glossy cover of a business magazine sitting in her inbox. Deron Blanchard's face smiled up at her, the headline boasting about his company's latest acquisition.

A spike of pure, bitter acid shot up her throat. This was the reason. The catalyst for the worst decision of her life.

She snatched up the magazine and shoved it into the trash can under her desk, burying it under a crumpled coffee cup.

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket.

Caleb: "Dr. Walter, patient is out of endoscopy. Mild GI bleeding, controlled with meds. Moved to Room 4B."

She typed back a quick "Received" and dropped into her chair, closing her eyes.

The silence of the office was deafening. And in that silence, Jeffry Alston's face floated behind her eyelids. Pale, sweating, and now, a massive, unforeseen complication. Her life's guiding principle was control, and this man-legally and now physically-had just become the ultimate uncontrolled variable.

She squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to block it out, but the image persisted. The absurdity of it all crashed over her. She was married. To a stranger. A stranger who was currently lying in a hospital bed because he drank himself sick.

Meanwhile, out in the hospital, the digital world was on fire.

Caleb's text had ignited a powder keg. The intern group chat was exploding.

"Married?! To who?"

"The guy who came in drunk?"

"No way! Dr. Walter doesn't even date!"

"She signed the consent form as his WIFE. I saw it!"

Caleb was basking in the attention, typing furiously, adding dramatic flourishes to the story of the confrontation in the hallway.

A few hours later, in Room 4B, Jeffry Alston stirred. The fog of sedation was lifting, leaving behind a dull, burning ache in his stomach. He blinked against the dim light of the room, his throat dry and scratchy.

The door opened, and Caleb walked in, clipboard in hand. He tried to look professional, but his eyes were shining with barely contained curiosity.

"Mr. Alston," Caleb said, his voice pitched a little too high. "Welcome back. You're at Columbia University Medical Center. You were admitted for acute gastritis. How are you feeling?"

Jeffry frowned, trying to piece together the fragmented memories of the night. "How... how did I get here?"

"An ambulance," Caleb said, checking the IV drip. "Did your friend Zara bring you in?"

Jeffry's brow furrowed. "Zara... is she here?"

Caleb leaned in slightly, unable to resist. "She was. But the person who signed your consent forms... that wasn't Zara."

Jeffry's gaze sharpened. "Who was it?"

Caleb dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "It was your attending physician. Dr. Walter. She said... she said she's your wife."

Jeffry stared at Caleb for a long moment. The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Then, a slow, faint smile touched Jeffry's pale lips. It wasn't a look of shock or panic. It was a look of quiet amusement.

"Kellie Walter," he murmured, the name rolling off his tongue like he was tasting it.

Caleb blinked, completely thrown off. This was not the reaction he had expected. Where was the surprise? The denial?

Before Caleb could probe further, the door swung open.

Kellie walked in. She had traded her blood-stained scrubs for a clean set, but the exhaustion was evident in the slight shadows under her eyes.

She stopped at the foot of the bed. Her gaze locked with Jeffry's.

It was the first time they had looked at each other clearly since the day they got married. The air in the room seemed to thicken, charged with an unspoken tension.

Kellie broke the silence first. She fell back on her professional armor, her voice crisp and detached. "How are you feeling?"

Jeffry looked at her, his gaze traveling from her face down to the nametag on her scrubs. The smile lingered on his lips. "Much better, thank you. Dr. Walter." He paused, his eyes glinting. "Or should I call you... Kellie?"

The sound of her name on his lips sent a jolt through her system, a tiny spark that made her fingers twitch. She immediately looked away, focusing on the IV bag behind him.

"In a professional setting, it's best to stick to titles, Mr. Alston," she said, her voice cool.

Jeffry let out a low chuckle. It was rough from the breathing tube, but it held a warm, velvety quality that felt entirely out of place in a sterile hospital room. "That's funny. Dr. Fletcher here seems to think our relationship is a bit more than professional."

Kellie stiffened. She shot a warning glance at Caleb, who suddenly found the floor very interesting. She looked back at Jeffry, saying nothing. Her silence was an admission.

Jeffry watched her, his playful demeanor shifting into something softer, more vulnerable. He leaned his head back against the pillow, looking up at her with a pleading expression.

"I feel terrible," he said, his voice dropping. "The hospital food is going to kill me faster than this ulcer. I really want... I want some of your homemade chicken soup."

Continue to next part

In the roaring flames of the abandoned warehouse, my skin blistered and peeled. Through the crackling fire, my sister Elara's malicious voice echoed. She told me my husband, Damien, was dead, and it was all my fault. For years, I had treated Damien like a monster. I fought him, threw tantrums, and desperately tried to escape our marriage, all because I blindly followed Elara's advice. "Remember, the harder you fight, the more disgusted he'll get." She texted me things like that, telling me to smash vases over his head and run away, claiming she was protecting me. In reality, she was poisoning my mind, stealing my valedictorian spot at university, and plotting to crawl into my billionaire husband's bed. My foolish rebellion cost me everything, ultimately leading to Damien's tragic death and my own fiery end. As the massive explosion tore my consciousness to shreds, I finally understood who truly loved me and who the real monster was. I died suffocating on my own agonizing regret, wishing I could tear Elara apart. Then, a rush of freezing air punched into my lungs. I opened my eyes to the crisp scent of cedar and mint. I was back seven years ago, on the very night our marriage was supposed to go to hell. This time, looking at Damien's flawless, unscarred face, I didn't push him away. I wrapped my arms around his neck and made a silent vow: I would make every single person who ever hurt him bleed.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.1

Betrayal on Vacation: When He Chose Her Over Me

8.1

On what should have been a romantic getaway, a young woman's world shatters when her boyfriend abandons her for another. This modern young-adult drama explores the raw pain of betrayal as a dream vacation turns into a nightmare of heartbreak. Left to pick up the pieces in an unfamiliar place, she must navigate the crushing reality of being second best. It is a poignant story of lost trust, emotional survival, and the cold sting of sudden rejection.

Modern Romance Young Adult

9.3

Bound By A Billionaire's Contract

9.3

Ava Rosen never expected her life to fall apart in a single night. Broke, exhausted, and drowning under hospital bills, the last thing she needs is to spill coffee on a stranger, especially when that stranger turns out to be Damian Blackwell, the city's most feared billionaire. Cold, brilliant, and impossibly controlled, Damian is the one man she should never cross. But instead of destroying her, he makes her an offer: pretend to be his fiancée for six months, and he will save her family from financial ruin. Ava wants to refuse, but desperation traps her. Soon, she is pulled into Damian's glittering world of luxury, secrets, and ruthless power. His rules are strict. His temper is dangerous. His attention is intoxicating. And falling for him violates every clause of their contract. But as enemies close in and buried truths rise to the surface, Ava realizes the greatest threat is not Damian's world, it's the possibility that she might lose her heart to the man who swore he could never love her.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.6

From Cast-off To The City's Queen

8.6

I spent three years making myself small, hiding my sketchbook beneath silk blouses just to keep the peace in a marriage that felt like a museum. Then, Blair came home early, bringing his first love, Keely, into our living room to serve me with divorce papers. He didn't look at me, only at the legal document he’d laid on the glass table like a death warrant for my entire life. He told me to be smart and sign it, while Keely smiled and thanked me for keeping his home and wearing her clothes while she was away. I had been nothing more than a placeholder, a shadow filling the space she’d left behind, and now I was being discarded without a cent or a home. I looked at the Baccarat chandelier and the life I had tried so hard to build, suddenly realizing that I had spent three years desperate for a love that was never on offer. I signed the papers, took nothing but my sketchbook, and walked out into the freezing November rain with three hundred dollars to my name and nowhere to go. I was nothing, I was alone, and I was entirely free. I stood on the corner of the street, shivering in the downpour, and made a desperate, insane gamble when a black car pulled up to the curb. I looked at the stranger behind the tinted glass and asked the only question I had left: "Do you need a wife?"

Modern Romance Sci-Fi

8.8

From Trash To Treasure: Masked Heiress

8.8

I was the invisible failure of the Goff family, hiding my medical genius behind a report card full of Fs and a slumped posture. One rainy night, I found a man bleeding out in a dark alley behind the school gymnasium, a knife protruding from his gut. To keep the police from digging into my secrets, I dragged the dying stranger to my bedroom and stitched him up using a hidden surgical kit. I thought I was being careful, but my cousin Cleora caught a glimpse of the blood and immediately alerted my fiancé's wealthy family. By morning, my world collapsed as my future in-laws stormed the manor, throwing an annulment agreement at my feet. They called me a "loose woman" and "million-dollar trash," while my own housekeeper gleefully testified against me. At school, the word "SLUT" was spray-painted across my locker in jagged red letters, and the boy I was supposed to marry looked at me with nothing but cold revulsion. I didn't understand why they were so eager to destroy me before even asking for the truth. I was the one who had spent years protecting this family's reputation, yet they were throwing me to the wolves over a single misunderstanding. I felt a surge of cold fury as I realized my loyalty had been met with nothing but betrayal. Everything changed when the "dying" stranger finally walked down the stairs, shirtless and bandaged, revealing himself as Braylon Lancaster, the most powerful man in the city. He didn't just defend me; he froze my fiancé's entire family fortune with a single phone call. As my in-laws fled in terror, a courier arrived with a five-carat pink diamond from the head of the city's most dangerous crime syndicate. The note read: "The debt is acknowledged." Suddenly, I wasn't just a failure anymore-I was the most sought-after woman in the underworld.

Adventure Billionaire Modern

7.3

His Betrayal Forged My Ruthless Soul

7.3

Seven years ago, my fiancé, Don Dante Moretti, sent me to prison to take the fall for my adopted sister, Chiara. He called it a gift-a way to protect me from a worse fate. Today, he picked me up from prison only to abandon me at my family's estate. His reason? Chiara was having another one of her "episodes." My parents then informed me I'd be staying in the third-floor storage room, so as not to disturb the fragile girl who stole my life. They celebrated her "recovery" with a lavish dinner party, while I was treated like a ghost. When I refused to join, my mother hissed that I was ungrateful, and my father called me jealous. They assumed I couldn't understand their venomous whispers. But prison was my university. I learned Spanish. I understood every word. It was then I realized I wasn't just a sacrifice; I was disposable. The love I once felt for all of them had turned to ash. That night, in the dusty storage room, I logged onto an encrypted channel I'd set up years ago. A single message was waiting: "The offer stands. Do you accept?" My hands, scarred and steady, typed back, "I accept."

Action Modern Romance

Flash Marriage To My Mysterious Patient

Chapter 3

You may also like