Chapter 1 Let's Get The Marriage Certificate

• On a chilly autumn morning, Nikita Hughes wrapped herself tightly in her coat and hailed a taxi on the roadside.
• Normally, Nikita would never spend money on taking a cab, but today was an important day: she was going to obtain her marriage certificate with her boyfriend, with whom she had been in a relationship for many years.
• However, two days before obtaining the certificate, some problems at home gave her a headache.
• As the scenery outside the car window quickly passed, her stepfather, Carlos Foster's curses echoed in Nikita's mind. "Nikita is already 22 years old! Why is she still living with me? I said earlier that she should go back to her grandparents. After all, she is from the Hughes family. Why should she live with our Foster family? You said that Nikita is beautiful, and we can marry her off to a wealthy person in the future. We can demand a sum of money for it! Now my son accidentally hit someone with his car and needs to pay a large sum of money for compensation. Doesn't Nikita's boyfriend love her very much? I heard his family is wealthy. Ask her boyfriend to give me five hundred thousand dollars if he wants to marry Nikita! Just consider it as the cost of raising Nikita all these years!"
• "Nikita, please help your little brother. Without this money, he will have to go to jail!" The crying voice of her mother, Darcy Watson, echoed in Nikita's ears too. It made her feel distressed.
• Nikita indeed had a wealthy boyfriend, Derek West, who was rich and handsome. Derek knew her family was in a poor financial condition, but he didn't mind. They had been in love for many years, and Derek took the initiative to propose marriage.
• To raise the compensation fee for her younger brother, Nikita had to mention that her family needed five hundred thousand dollars. Derek responded on the phone that he had to inform his family about this.
• But Derek didn't reply to her in the last two days. It wasn't until today that he sent a text message asking her to meet at the cafe across the city hall.
• While her thoughts were swirling, Nikita's phone suddenly vibrated.
• She quickly picked it up and glanced at it. It was a call from Derek, probably urging her to arrive.
• As soon as she picked up, an impatient voice came from the other end.
• "I've been waiting for you at the cafe for ten minutes. Hurry up!"
• Without much thought, Nikita got out of the car and ran over. Her fair little face turned slightly red because of the cold wind.
• "Sorry, the traffic was pretty bad."
• Derek looked at Nikita, who was sitting in front of him. He seemed a little uncomfortable.
• "Nikita, my ... my family said they can't give you the money!"
• Nikita was stunned for a moment. They couldn't give her the money? Is there something wrong with the West family's finances? Does that mean they can't get married?
• Her younger brother, Simon Foster, had hit someone and had to pay five hundred thousand dollars as compensation. Not a penny less.
• "Nikita, as you know, my mother has always been in charge of my family. She doesn't understand why your family needs this five hundred thousand dollars, and she can't comprehend why you need to ask for such a large sum of money before getting married. My mother is completely ... "
• Before he finished speaking, Nikita sneered and said, "She won't give her blessing, right? And what about you? What do you think?"
• Looking at Nikita's reddened eyes, Derek also felt uncomfortable, but he thought what his mother said made sense.
• They were about to get married, but suddenly her family asked for such a large sum of money. Derek initially wanted to marry Nikita because he felt Nikita could escape from her family.
• But now, Nikita was even helping her family ask for money from his parents.
• Derek felt that Nikita and her family were a massive black hole ready to drain his family's money.
• Thinking of this, Derek instantly became impatient. "Nikita, I thought you wanted to marry me because you loved me, but now it seems like you and your family are after my money!"
• Nikita's heart was torn apart.
• During their three-year relationship, Derek was well aware of Nikita's various hardships in the Hughes family.
• She thought Derek understood her well. She never thought he would see her as so despicable.
• Derek didn't care about Nikita's feelings. He continued, "If you loved me, you shouldn't have caused so much trouble before we got married. Your family said your brother hit someone and had to pay compensation. Who knows if it's true or not? And why should our family bear the compensation? My family will not pay five hundred thousand dollars. Our relationship should be pure, flawless, and not involve other interests!"
• Every word was like a sharp knife stabbing into Nikita's heart.
• She should have expected this situation. The gap between them was too huge. She couldn't compare with Derek in terms of wealth or social status.
• Why did she think Derek would always love and support her unconditionally?
• Nikita immediately took out the IOU from her bag that she had written the previous night. She unfolded it and held it up in front of Derek.
• "This five hundred thousand dollars can help me escape from that terrible family. I never expected the West family to bear this amount. The moment you agreed to marry me, I wrote this IOU. I will return all the five hundred thousand dollars, without a penny less, even with a bank loan interest rate. This is my sincerity and my respect for our relationship. Unfortunately ... "
• She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She wasn't feeling sad about the relationship. She felt a little embarrassed, so she tore the paper into pieces.