She Was Forced To Marry A Poor Homeless Beggar Unaware He Is The Richest Man Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Evelyn who never left a job half done. If a stray dog had a cut on its ear, she stayed out in the rain until she wrapped it in a clean cloth. If her neighbor’s roof leaked, she was up on the rusty ladder holding the nails. She did not [music] do these things to be nice or to hear people say thank you. Around her was broken. That was just who she was. But on this particular evening, Evelyn felt completely broken herself. She stood in the middle of her stepmother’s massive kitchen staring down at a shiny white piece of paper on the marble counter. The kitchen smelled like expensive vanilla candles and roasting meat, but the air felt so thick and hot that Evelyn could barely breathe. Her throat was dry and she kept squeezing the hem of her faded blue skirt until her knuckles turned white. Across the counter stood Victoria, her stepmother. Victoria was not screaming. Instead, she was slowly cutting a piece of chocolate cake with a silver fork making a Scratch. She looked up at Evelyn with cold, calm eyes. Victoria said that if Evelyn did not sign the marriage paper by midnight, the checks for the hospital would stop. She [music] said the private room where Evelyn’s grandmother lived would be locked. [music] The machines that helped the old woman breathe would be turned off and she would be sent to a crowded, noisy state clinic where nobody would watch her. Evelyn felt a hot drop of sweat slide down her neck. She looked at the paper, then at the silver fork in Victoria’s hand. She asked why it had to be him. She asked why it had to be the silent man who lived in the alley behind their big house. Victoria took a slow bite of her cake, chewed it, and wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. She told Evelyn that the family business was going through a very difficult time. She said that according to her father’s old will, the family could only touch the grandmother’s medical trust fund money if Evelyn was legally married and settled. Victoria smiled a tiny sharp smile. She said she was just finding Evelyn a husband so they could get the money to save the business.

He wanted the proud step family to watch their entire dream turn to dust [music] in front of high society ensuring they could never hurt Evelyn ever again. The bright white lights of the grocery store made Evelyn’s eyes burn and the store was filled with the loud clatter of shopping carts and the constant annoying beep of the checkout scanners.

Evelyn stood behind her cash register her feet aching inside her thin shoes. She had been scanning heavy bags of dog food and boxes of cereal for 6 hours without a break. The air smelled like crushed mint leaves and soapy floor [music] wax. Just as she was about to reach for a new stack of plastic bags a loud smash echoed through the front aisle.

A jar of expensive red pasta sauce had shattered on the shiny linoleum floor splashing thick red liquid all over the clean white display shelves. Standing right next to the mess was Priscilla. She was wearing a fluffy pink coat [music] and holding her designer purse high above the puddle. She did not look sorry at all.

Instead, she pointed a finger covered in heavy gold rings straight at Evelyn and began to shout so loudly that every single [music] customer in the store stopped walking to look. Priscilla screamed that Evelyn had pushed a shopping cart right into her causing her to drop her items. She called Evelyn a clumsy careless girl who did not belong in a nice store.

Evelyn came out from behind her register, her face turning red with embarrassment. She told Priscilla quietly that she had been standing behind her counter the entire time and had not even touched a cart. She asked Priscilla why she was telling lies in front of all these strangers. Before Priscilla could answer, the heavy office door [music] at the back of the store slammed open. Mr.

Henderson, the store manager, came marching down the aisle. [music] He was a short, angry man with a bald head and a shirt that was always soaked with sweat at the collar. He loved to yell at the workers because it made him feel powerful, and he always took the side of rich customers. He looked [music] at the broken red glass on the floor.

Then he looked at Priscilla’s expensive clothes, and finally he glared at Evelyn with absolute fury. [music] Mr. Henderson told Evelyn that he was completely sick and tired of her causing problems. He said that a valuable customer like Priscilla should never have to deal with a rude worker. Evelyn tried to explain that Priscilla had dropped the jar on purpose, but Mr.

Henderson raised his hand to shout over her voice. He told her to shut her mouth right now or he would throw her out into the street without paying her for the week. Victoria [music] walked through the automatic sliding doors of the store. She did not look like she was there to buy food. She held a thick brown envelope in her hand and walked over to the group with slow, [music] heavy steps.