MARRIED BY MISTAKE

Author: Nicolet Hale

Chapter 1 The Accidental Bride

Word Count: 697 | Released on: 26/12/2025

rk City Marriage Bureau, she held the manila envelope to her chest. Immediately, chaos erupted: clerks yelling names, couples yelling over paperwor

rk barked, waving impatiently from behind the scratched plexiglass. Aria stepped forward. "Hi, I'm he

" The clerk shoved a clipboard through the slot. "Fill this out. Your groom's a

s, honey. Just breathe and sign when he arrives." Aria checked her phone. Nothing. No texts. No calls. Just a curt messag

twenty-four years of being forgotten, invisible, and cleaning up other people's messes, she was reward

ad shoulders, dark hair, grey eyes, sharp enough to pierce steel. Leo

get this over with." He grabbed her elbow. Warm. Firm. Unyielding. Trapped. "Wait, you don't-" "Ariana Hale and Leon Mercer!" The clerk s

in her chest. "Sir, I think

raced. Run? Scream? Call her parents? But who would believe her? Who would take her si

re married." Time slowed. Every sound dulled. Leon's grey eyes lifted to hers. Cold. Furious. Ice.

trapped me.". "You will regret this every day until I am free of you. Ar

he certificate into his jacket. His other hand gripped her wrist-not cruel, not gentle, just possessive. "You'r

l her family-but who would listen? Who would believe her? She looked at Leon. The fury simmered ben

ace. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window's tint. Aria Hale. Not Ariana. Nobody's second choice. She had recent

Chapter End

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MARRIED BY MISTAKE

Nicolet Hale Romance

“She never meant to become his wife. Aria Hale had only stepped into the marriage registry to deliver her sister's documents. Yet somehow, she walked out as the legal wife of Leon Mercer-the city's most ruthless billionaire. One signature. One mistake. One furious husband determined to make her regret it. "You trapped me," he growls, ice lacing every word. "You'll pay for this." But Aria isn't who he thinks she is. She carries secrets he could never imagine-an identity carefully hidden, a fortune he never suspected, and a strength that refuses to break under his cruelty. He assumes she's a gold-digger. She lets him believe it. When he insists she stay until the divorce is finalized, she agrees-but only because she has her own plans. And then he notices. The way she never begs. The subtle power in her laughter. The way other men glance at her... and how his chest tightens in ways he can't explain. By the time the truth comes crashing down-when he finally discovers who she really is-it's too late. Aria is gone. Now the hunter becomes the hunted. The billionaire married the wrong woman by mistake. And losing her will be his greatest regret.”