“I’ll marry the next woman who walks through that door,” Ethan Kade declared with an unwavering confidence, though when he finally reached for the handle, a sharp intake of breath escaped him.
The boardroom fell into an unnatural silence. All eyes were on him as he reclined in his leather chair, a half-smile playing on his lips. “I’ll marry the first girl who walks through that door,” he repeated, this time slower, letting the statement linger like a gauntlet thrown down—or perhaps a masked admission of something deeper.
Those seated around the long conference table exchanged incredulous glances. Was he serious? Ethan Kade, billionaire CEO of KadeTech, was not a man known for his romantic inclinations. His life revolved around spreadsheets, hostile acquisitions, and the meteoric rise to being the youngest tech billionaire in New York City. Affection, sentimentality, or even a committed relationship was an afterthought—an indulgence his steel-and-titanium world seemed to have no room for.
Yet now, he had said it. And no one dared chuckle.
Weddings were anathema to Ethan. He had just returned from his younger brother’s extravagant nuptials in Tuscany—a ceremony that looked like a celebration of wealth disguised as love. Guests clinked glasses of champagne, shouting “forever” as if it were a product to be marketed. Throughout the event, all eyes inevitably drifted toward him. “When’s it your turn?” they asked, a question that carried the assumption marriage equaled completion. He scoffed, rolled his eyes, and left the Italian estate with a renewed disdain for ceremonies, vows, and any semblance of commitment.
Back in New York, Travis, his sharp-tongued executive assistant, had teased him mercilessly. “You’ll never settle down. You’re scared of real connection,” he’d said.
Ethan’s patience snapped. “Fine,” he shot back. “I’ll prove that all of this is nonsense.”
“How exactly?” Travis prodded.
Ethan gestured toward the glass doors of the conference room. “I’ll marry the first woman who walks through that door.”
A ripple of disbelief raced across the room.
“Are you serious?” Lauren, the marketing manager, finally asked.
“I am,” Ethan said flatly. “She walks in, we talk, I propose. End of story. Love is a transaction—nothing more. I’ll sign the papers, put on the ring, smile for the cameras. Let’s see how long it lasts.”
The room was quiet, faces etched with skepticism, amusement, and mild horror. But Ethan didn’t flinch. He meant it—or at least he thought he did.
Footsteps echoed outside. Someone was approaching.
The team shifted in their seats, curiosity mingled with anxiety, waiting to witness which unsuspecting woman fate—or madness—would thrust into this challenge.
The door swung open.
Ethan froze.
She was nothing like he had anticipated.
Not a designer suit, not a polished appearance. Just a simple woman in faded jeans, a gray T-shirt stamped with a bookstore logo, carrying a bundle of misfiled mail. Her ponytail was loose, her hair tangled from the summer heat, and her wide eyes reflected utter confusion at the intense scrutiny suddenly upon her.
“I think I’m on the wrong floor,” she said, gathering the scattered envelopes. “I’m from—”
“Who are you?” Ethan asked, standing abruptly.
“I’m… Olivia. Olivia Lane. I work in the cafeteria on the fifth floor.”
Laughter erupted from the room, but Ethan did not join in. His heart, accustomed to calculating risks and profits, skipped a beat. There was something about her—a complete anomaly in his world of forecasts and projections.
He should have laughed it off, claimed it was a joke, but the declaration he’d made—the one about marrying the first woman to enter—felt like a personal challenge from the universe. And for the first time in years, he found himself speechless.
Olivia, blinking, raised a quizzical brow. “Is this… some kind of meeting?”
“Yes,” Ethan said, regaining composure. “And you’ve just become part of it.”
Later, alone in his office, Ethan replayed the moment over and over. The tilt of her head as she looked at him, her straightforward honesty, the fact she seemed completely indifferent to his status—it haunted him.
“I can’t believe you’re really doing this,” Travis muttered, following him inside.
“I said I would,” Ethan replied, gaze locked on the skyline beyond the glass.
“She’s a barista, Ethan.”
“She’s a woman,” Ethan corrected, firm. That was all that mattered.
“But you froze,” Travis pointed out.
“I wasn’t expecting her,” Ethan admitted.
“So… you’re really going to propose?”
“Yes,” he said, expression unreadable. “I am.”
And so the man who had long dismissed love as a joke began preparing a proposal—to a complete stranger who had only accidentally delivered some mail.
But Ethan had no idea Olivia Lane was more than a cafeteria worker.
Two days later, he found himself outside the fifth-floor coffee shop, a place he had never entered before. Interns and junior staff watched, whispering and pointing, as he stepped inside.
Behind the counter, Olivia hummed to herself while cleaning the espresso machine. When she noticed him, she froze. “Oh. You again.”
“Yes. Me again,” Ethan said, smiling faintly. “Are you still planning to turn that meeting into a soap opera?”
“Actually,” he said, producing a small velvet box from his jacket, “I came to ask if you’d marry me.”
Olivia stared, then laughed in disbelief.
“As serious as I said it,” Ethan said, meeting her gaze.
“This is… insane.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But it’s a good kind of insane.”
She leaned forward slightly, her expression softening. “Look, I don’t know what your game is, Mr. Kade. Maybe you’re bored or proving a point. But I’m not some prop in a wager.”
“It’s not a wager,” Ethan said. “It’s a declaration. A leap. I want you to take it with me.”
He paused. “You know nothing about me.”
“Then let me learn,” she said.
Three weeks later, a small ceremony atop KadeTech’s headquarters made headlines: “Tech Mogul Marries Coffee Shop Worker.” Analysts laughed, pundits speculated, and Ethan smiled for the cameras, hand in hand with Olivia, acting as if destiny had orchestrated it all.
But behind the smiles, Olivia—whose real name was Anna Whitmore—was hiding secrets. A former investigative journalist, she had vanished from the public eye after an exposé nearly toppled a multibillion-dollar biotech company with indirect connections to KadeTech. Threats and a destroyed apartment forced her into hiding, adopting a new identity as a barista. And by sheer coincidence, she had walked into Ethan’s life.
Initially, she intended to exit swiftly—a staged divorce, a settlement. Yet, Ethan was not the cold, calculating businessman she expected. He was intense, yet thoughtful, vulnerable, and curious. He read, he listened, he watched her as though trying to understand why she existed in his world. She began to sympathize with him—a dangerous distraction.
Her past returned in the form of a manila envelope left on the marble counter. Inside were a photo of her courtroom appearance, the article she wrote under her real name, and a note: Does your new wife still believe in spilling secrets? Ask her about Halvex Biotech.
Ethan read it repeatedly, fury and confusion brewing. Everything she’d told him was a lie. Fate or manipulation? When she returned, he confronted her.
“Who are you?” he demanded, holding the photo.
She froze. He tossed the envelope on the counter. “Tell me everything.”
“I didn’t plan this,” she said quietly. “I never expected to be there.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“No,” she admitted. “But I never lied to hurt you. I hid to survive.”
Silence lingered. Finally, he whispered, “I was trying to disappear. Then I entered your world and realized… I didn’t want to disappear anymore.”
He stared at her. Dangerous secrets, and yet, a part of him ached at the thought of losing her.
“I don’t know if I can trust you,” he said.
“I don’t blame you,” she replied. “I didn’t come to destroy you. I came to survive. But maybe together… we can stop hiding.”
Six months later: They hadn’t divorced. They didn’t live in a fairy tale. Ethan severed KadeTech’s ties to Halvex Biotech. Anna published one final article under her real name, revealing the company’s malpractices. Ethan, once cynical about love as a transaction, finally realized the woman who walked through that door hadn’t just changed his life—she had saved him.
Read more:
- A Mother’s Love Story: When a Groom Discovered the Truth at His Wedding
- How I Dealt with an Annoying Honeymoon Couple on Plane – A Lesson in Mid-Air Etiquette
- Woman Proposes to Boyfriend After 5 Years – And His Response Leaves Her Heartbroken