"So, if I say yes to marrying you, you'll cover my mom's hospital bills?" Everly Antonov locked eyes with the man who completely towered above her.

Ivan Smirnov, blue-eyed with dark short hair and an undercut, thoughtfully narrowed his eyes on her. "Yes, if you marry me, you won't need to stress about those expenses any longer. I'll fully take responsibility for them." He was roughly one hundred and ninety-six centimeters in height.

"Hmmm…." Everly, a hundred and sixty-seven centimeters in height, squinted her hazel eyes at him, still quite dubious. "Alright, but may I ask you a question? That is, if you don't mind." She tucked the dark brown, silky strands of her hair behind her ear and stood with her arms akimbo.

Ivan wasn't sure what she wanted to ask, but he couldn't say no. So he permitted her. "Go ahead."

"I'm curious, why me?" Everly asked, a smile tugging at her lips. "You could have chosen any other girl, so why did you approach me? Even going as far as finding information on me?"

Ivan didn't give her a response. He rather stood peering at her, his gloved hands shoved into the pocket of his knee-length trench coat.

Of course he wasn't going to outrightly tell her that he was not human but a werewolf, a supreme alpha at that. And no, he wouldn't do as much as let her know she was his mate. Hell, she wouldn't even believe him. She might just deem him crazy.

But, yes, he was marrying her for that reason. An alpha needed its mate with him, and since she was his, she had to be with him, even if it was behind the coat of something such as a deal.

"You don't need to know that. Just behave and work on your end of the deal," he said.

Everly clicked her tongue at him. She wasn't really surprised, having expected such a response from him.

"Fine, fine! Do we sign a contract or something? I need there to be something solid that would guarantee you would oversee my mother's treatment so long as I am married to you."

"Of course there is. I'd like to be sure my wife would never run away from me under any circumstances." Ivan grabbed her hand. "Let's go! We can get married right now!" He pulled her along with him towards his Rolls-Royce.

Everly rushed after him in order not to trip. He was a fast walker. "You know you could slow down, right? My legs aren't as long as yours!"

Ivan glanced at her, an amused expression on his face. He opened the door, gesturing. "Get in."

Everly sat down and watched him stroll over to sit in the driver's seat. He pulled the door closed, started the car, and drove off onto the road.

During the ride, Everly muttered, frowning, "I still feel pretty uneasy about the fact that I have no idea why a successful, famous man like you would want to marry a nobody like me. And on top of that, I have to be a secret?" Her face scrunched in displeasure.

"But sure, I won't be too nosy. As long as you fulfill your end of our deal, I couldn't care less about your reason."

Ivan let out a deep, throaty laughter, shaking his head. "How interesting."

"What?" Everly looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." Ivan rolled his shoulders, shrugging. "You just amuse me, that's it," he hummed his words, taking a turn on the road.

The steering wheel turned as he drove off the center of the road to pull up at the registry office, where they would be signing and getting their marriage certificate.

Once inside the office, Everly took a deep breath, walking over to the desk to sit with Ivan opposite a young woman.

She was quite skinny, with brown eyes, thin lips, and dark hair that was left in a neat bun. Resting on the bridge of her nose was a rectangular-shaped eyeglass.

Of course she'd recognized the famous Ivan Smirnov, but seeing the cold, unwelcoming expression on his face, she knew better than to try and squeal in excitement or go in for a picture, an autograph, and whatnot.

Even in the media, he hadn't always come off as the approachable, chummy type of person, and it was even worse in real life. But still, every woman fawned over him.

This man was literally jaw-droppingly handsome. How could they not?

Even she was in that dilemma.

But as of this moment, the only thing bothering her mind was Everly.

Who was she? Some kind of famous woman? A rich man's daughter?

She had to be either one of those for Ivan to be in the registry office to marry her. But then again, why such a pathetic and quick marriage? Shouldn't such a marriage be grand and possibly air on TV? It was not making any sense to her.

Ivan, who was watching her the whole time, could tell that she had something on her mind due to how slow she was with working with the marriage papers. This caused an unpleasant frown on his face, and he cocked an eyebrow.

"Can't you be any faster?" His deep, icy voice snapped the lady out of her drifting thoughts.

She looked at him, an awkward smile emerging on her face. Quickly, she stood to her feet, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry, sir." It would be such a shame to get on the bad side of such a man.

Everly, who was watching this, secretly kicked his leg, matching his feet. "Hey!"

Ivan looked at her with a frown. "What?" he mouthed at her, whispering.

Everly clicked her tongue at him, glaring. "Be polite. Polite, Ivan."

Ivan scowled. He was going to say such wasn't in his dictionary, but unwilling to allow her to have any bad impressions of him, he cleared his throat, swallowing his words.

"Fine," he muttered.

Everly shook her head, returning her attention to the woman, who by now had sat back down and processed their documents.

"Please sign," she said to them, sneaking a glance at Ivan and wondering inwardly if she'd left a bad impression on him.

Ivan, thirty years old, signed first and shifted the paper to Everly. She, twenty-six years old, signed as well, and once they were done, they handed the document back to the woman.

She processed it and gave them their marriage certificate, officially making them newlyweds.

"Congratulations." Her smile was wide.

Everly returned the smile, but Ivan snatched her by the hand, taking her away with him.

"Shall we go home?" He was polite enough to open the door for her like a gentleman.

Everly dropped her arms, brows shot upwards. "No!" She was straightforward.