Alana didn't believe for a second that the richest man in the country could ever end up tied to her. It had to be someone else with the same name.

Meanwhile, inside Galaxy Tech, the biggest technology corporation in the country, an assistant stood outside the CEO's office. His hands were shaking. Phone clutched tight, he knocked.

"Come in." A cold voice came from inside. Colton Hadley's tone carried no warmth at all.

Trent Brooks, the assistant, stepped into the office with a pale face. He looked completely panicked. "Mr. Hadley, someone pulled your name in the match today."

The words nearly tangled together from fear alone. Everyone in the company knew one thing about Colton. He despised women. Any female employee who got too close to him didn't last long in the company. Some were transferred, while others were dismissed entirely.

That was why Trent couldn't understand what went wrong. He had already handled Colton's single tax payments for the whole year. His boss's name should never have appeared in the national matching system again. Could there be an issue with the database?

The moment Trent noticed Colton's expression turn colder, he hurriedly explained himself, saying, "Sir, I'll contact the department right now and get this resolved. This has to be a mistake from their side. We can still stop it before it spreads further."

He had barely unlocked his phone when a breaking news notification suddenly appeared across the screen.

"SHOCKING: Galaxy Tech Founder Colton Hadley—Confirmed Woman-Hater—Matched with Lucky Girl in State Marriage Pool!"

Trent stood there so nervously that he hardly even breathed.

After a long silence, Colton finally spoke. "We'll head there ourselves."

For quite some time now, his family had been forcing one business marriage arrangement after another onto him. The pressure had become unbearable. Out of frustration, he had personally entered his own name into the government matching system to warn them against pushing him further. He thought the single tax payments would've prevented his profile from being selected at all.

Never once did he imagine a woman would actually end up drawing his name.

Back when he was still a child, an accident had left lasting damage to his body. The moment any woman came too close to him, his breathing became uneven. His chest would tighten painfully, and rashes would spread across his skin soon after.

Years had passed, yet nobody managed to cure the condition.

If news of his illness ever leaked outside, Galaxy Tech's market value would suffer immediately.

Because of that, he allowed the public to believe he simply disliked women. Since every woman who tried approaching him ended up dismissed from the company, the rumor only became more convincing over time.

Still, the situation had already escalated too far now. Rejecting a government-assigned match wouldn't come without consequences. It could easily affect Galaxy Tech's public image as well.

After weighing the matter carefully, Colton decided to handle it personally at City Hall. If there was truly no way around this, then he would discuss a marriage arrangement that existed in name only.

Trent quickly nodded, although the miserable look on his face made him seem like a man walking toward his own funeral.

A convoy of black luxury vehicles sped across the road not long after. More than ten cars moved together in perfect formation. From the outside, every vehicle looked exactly the same, but each one had been specially reinforced with bulletproof modifications. They weren't the sort of cars that could be purchased with wealth alone.

At the same time, Alana sat inside one of City Hall's lounges, nearly dying from boredom while she waited.

The sound of the door opening immediately pulled her attention away.

Hope flashed across her face. For a brief moment, she thought the man she had been matched with had finally arrived.

But the person who entered turned out to be a balding middle-aged man instead.

The excitement disappeared from her face at once. Then panic quietly followed.

Surely her future husband couldn't already look like that at twenty-two years old?

The man carried himself with a stern expression as he approached her. "I represent Ms. Paige Nash. She's engaged to Mr. Hadley, you match."

He didn't wait for a reaction. "Ms. Nash is willing to make this easy for you. Back out of the match, and she'll cover your million-dollar penalty. Plus another million for your trouble."

Alana genuinely didn't know how to react anymore. She had only randomly matched with a stranger through the system. Yet somehow, before even meeting the man himself, she already had a lawyer sitting across from her and offering money in exchange for giving the man up.

Alana almost laughed from disbelief. "If this Ms. Nash is really engaged to the man I matched with, then why was his name even left inside the system in the first place?"

She leaned back slightly before continuing, "And judging from what you're saying, this Mr. Hadley should be wealthy too. So explain something to me. What kind of rich man skips paying the single tax and ends up inside a public matching pool meant for regular people?"

Amusement crossed her face as she shook her head lightly. In her eyes, Paige Nash had clearly let jealousy get the better of her judgment.

If the government's matching program truly handed out wealthy and desirable men so easily, people would've been desperate to join long ago. Nobody would've needed to be pressured into participating.

The lawyer's expression immediately hardened. "I'm not here to joke around with you," he said coldly. "The man you selected is Mr. Hadley himself. Both the Hadley and Nash families stand at the same social level. Their marriage was always considered appropriate."

A dismissive look settled in his eyes while he looked her over. "Let me be honest with you. A woman like you will never marry into the Hadley family. Do yourself a favor and drop this delusion before it gets ugly. So what's it going to take? How much to make you walk away?"

The more he spoke, the more unpleasant his attitude became.

Alana's patience finally snapped. "If he's that unhappy about the marriage arrangement, then he should come here himself and file the cancellation. Why should I handle it for him?"

Calling off a government match wasn't something she could do lightly. The punishment alone would destroy her future. She would lose her degree, and finding decent work afterward would become almost impossible.

Yet Paige thought one million dollars was enough to make her throw everything away? That woman could keep dreaming.

Alana had no intention of sacrificing her entire future just to clean up somebody else's mess.

"You—"

The lawyer's face twisted with anger. If Paige had been capable of speaking to Colton herself about this issue, she would've never sent someone else to negotiate on her behalf.

"Do you have any idea who Ms. Nash is? She's an internationally recognized pianist who brought honor to our country. Someone like you shouldn't even think about standing on the same level as her."

Alana's patience finally snapped.

The lawyer caught that reaction and let out a satisfied smile before sliding a photograph across the table. "Take a good look. This is her."

The second Alana saw the woman in the picture, her expression darkened.

She recognized her immediately.

When she turned fifteen, a man and woman suddenly appeared and claimed they were her real parents. They didn't say they missed her. Instead, they made sure she knew: they already had a daughter—better than her in every way.

Before she could even decide whether to go back with them, they warned her not to take anything from that girl. Not attention. Not status. Nothing. Upsetting her was not allowed.

The only reason they decided to bring Alana home at all? Because the Nash family couldn't leave their own blood out there.

Back then, they had shown her a photograph of the girl they treasured so much. The woman in that picture was identical to the person in the lawyer's photograph.

The man looked at her coldly. "I also heard your adoptive family isn't exactly wealthy. If Ms. Nash decides she doesn't like them, she could easily make both of them lose their jobs."

"Then let her try!"

"How dare she!"

Alana's voice overlapped with a man's voice the instant she spoke.

Alana's attention shifted to the door.

A man came in through the door. He was tall with a solid build, and his face looked too perfect to be real.

There wasn't a trace of warmth on his face.

Fear struck the lawyer the second he noticed Colton. He covered his face and scurried off—but not before sticking out a foot and tripping Alana on his way out.

Her footing slipped, and she fell forward.

Colton had never been the type to help women. His condition couldn't be exposed, so keeping his distance had always been necessary.

Still, when the young woman stumbled in front of him, he instinctively reached out and caught her.

Regret immediately hit him after touching her.

Then something felt wrong. None of the usual symptoms came. His face didn't flush. His breathing stayed steady. No rash appeared on his skin.

He lowered his eyes to the hand he used to support Alana.

Why wasn't his body rejecting her? He convinced himself it had to be a delayed reaction.

When his gaze returned to her face, he paused for a moment. She was beautiful, and there was something about her face that felt strangely familiar to him.

A bright smile spread across Alana's face as she extended her hand toward him. "Hello. I'm Alana Parker."

So this was where all her luck had gone. For over twenty years, she had been unlucky, as though life had saved every bit of good fortune for this exact moment.

The man in front of her was exceptional all around. His height, his face, the way he carried himself—each part stood out more than the last. No wonder Paige sent a lawyer to frighten her away.

What woman wouldn't want someone like him?

As for the lawyer's claim that this man came from a family equal to Paige's, Alana didn't buy it at all.

If he really came from that kind of family, Paige's parents would've already made the marriage happen. There was no way a man like him would've ended up in the match pool.

Alana looked him over. His clothes were plain, without designer labels or anything expensive. That made her more certain he came from an ordinary family like hers. The difference was his face. Most people couldn't ignore it.

Instead of answering right away, Colton looked down at the hand she offered him. His thoughts drifted back to what had happened moments ago. He'd touched her. Yet his body never reacted.

Could she really be the only person capable of curing his condition?

After a brief pause, he finally took her hand.

Warmth spread across his palm the instant their hands met. Her skin felt soft, and a faint clean scent lingered around her. It reminded him of soap and sunlight. Somehow, it calmed him.

Even after the greeting should've ended, he still didn't let go.

There was still no reaction from his body. No rash appeared. His chest didn't tighten. He felt no nausea, and his breathing remained steady.

The excitement rising inside him nearly showed on his face, but he suppressed it.

Before arriving here, he only intended to compensate her and end the match. Now, everything had changed. This woman could be the only exception fate had given him.

"So where are we signing?" he asked.

Shock spread across Trent's face behind him.

The moment Colton touched that woman earlier, Trent thought something terrible was about to happen. His finger had already been resting over the emergency call button, prepared to dial 911 immediately.

But nothing happened to Colton.

Now, he was even asking to register the marriage himself.

The shock nearly made Trent forget how to breathe.

Once Alana realized this absurdly handsome man truly planned to marry her, she immediately led the way. "Come on. It's over here."

The registration process didn't take long. By the time they walked out of the building, the two of them were already legally married.

Near the car, Colton stopped and turned his attention toward her. "Do you want me to drive you back to campus, or do you have somewhere else to go?"

Alana's eyes drifted toward the car beside him. The vehicle looked simple and ordinary. In fact, it resembled the kind of sedan rideshare drivers used all the time.

Cars weren't something she knew much about, but even she could tell whether one looked expensive or not.

Her newly married husband wore plain clothes, drove a plain car, and he'd parked right next to more than ten other cars that looked exactly the same.

The conclusion wrote itself: her new husband was a rideshare driver.

Still, she didn't think much of it. She knew drivers could earn decent money, though their income depended on how much time they spent working. If business was good and they stayed on the road for over ten hours a day, they could earn ten thousand dollars in one month. If things went badly, they might only make two or three thousand.

Even so, she felt that was perfectly fine.

After all, Colton already had a face like that. Surely a man wasn't expected to have everything.

To her, a handsome man without money felt far more realistic than one who had both looks and wealth.

With that thought in mind, she decided to comfort her financially unstable husband.

"Don't stress too much," she said seriously. "Now that we're married, Nexus Tech can officially hire me full-time. Once that happens, I'll earn six thousand dollars every month, and my salary will keep increasing every year."

Then she looked at him earnestly. "I'll provide for you from now on. We'll definitely manage just fine together. Maybe one day, we won't even need to look at prices before ordering takeout."

As soon as she said it, she worried she'd hurt his pride, so she quickly explained herself, "What I'm trying to say is, I can handle stability while you focus on working hard. Things will get better for us sooner or later."

Something strange crossed Colton's face.

Women had approached him countless times because of his looks and his wealth. The woman standing before him clearly liked his appearance too, but she wasn't acting clingy or shallow about it.

What surprised him more was the fact that she genuinely believed he needed her financial support.

He cast a glance toward Trent, only to find the other man looking equally stunned.

"You're planning to provide for me?" Colton asked. Curiosity lingered in his voice, along with faint amusement. "Why?"

Never once in his life had a woman said something like that to him.

For a moment, Alana hesitated. Her gaze moved from his clothes to the car nearby.

"It's not really a big deal. I just think we should properly live as husband and wife since we're already married. Anyway, where's the apartment you rented? I've already graduated, so I can't keep staying in the dorm anymore."

They were legally married now. Being shy about moving in together? That ship had sailed.