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.

She told her online followers to look at the sad couple sitting on the bench. She laughed and said that this was officially the cheapest wedding in the history of the world because the groom did not even have a clean shirt to wear for his big day. She pointed the phone camera straight at Julian’s old boots making a big show of zooming in on the deep holes in the leather where his toes almost showed through.

She asked her viewers to leave a comment if they thought Evelyn had found her new husband inside a trash can behind a grocery store. Evelyn stood up from the hard metal bench and walked right into the front of the phone camera completely blocking Priscilla’s view. She told Priscilla to put the phone away right now.

She said that this was a serious government office, not a school playground for mean jokes. Evelyn’s voice was shaking with anger, but she stood tall and did not back down. She said that they were here to sign the legal papers, and that was the only thing Victoria [music] needed to save the family business. So, there was absolutely no reason to film them like animals in a zoo.

Victoria stepped between the two sisters, her voice sharp and cold. She told Evelyn to shut her mouth and stop making [music] a scene in public. She said that Evelyn should be deeply grateful that the family was even paying [music] the small fee to hire the wedding judge today. Victoria warned her that if she caused any more trouble or made Priscilla upset, the money for her grandmother’s private hospital bed would disappear before the sun went down.

She told Evelyn to sit back down on the bench, keep her mouth closed, and let Priscilla do whatever she wanted with her phone. Just then, a tired-looking judge opened the office door and told them all to come inside. The room was tiny and cluttered with tall stacks of paper that reached all the way to the ceiling.

The ceremony took less than 3 minutes because nobody brought flowers or music. The judge did not ask them to say beautiful vows or exchange shiny gold rings. He just asked them to sign their names on three different copies of a white form. Priscilla laughed loudly from the back of the room, saying that the judge should check his pockets afterward to make sure the beggar did not steal the pen.

Julian did not say a word, but his big fingers gripped the plastic pen so tightly that it made a small cracking sound. He signed his name quickly and handed the paper back. Once the judge stamped the final papers, Victoria and Priscilla left the room without even saying goodbye. Their loud voices fading away as they talked about buying a much bigger, better wedding dress for Priscilla’s future wedding with Marcus.

They left Evelyn and Julian standing [music] completely alone in the cold basement. Evelyn turned to Julian and told him that the hard part was over, and it was time to go home. They walked out of the building and into the chilly evening air. A light rain had started to fall, making the city streets look dark and slippery.

Evelyn did not have enough money to pay for a taxi car, so they had to walk six long blocks to her apartment building. She held her old umbrella high over Julian’s head to keep his torn coat from getting soaked by the rain, even though the cold water dripped directly onto her own shoulders and made her shiver.

Old brick building [music] that sat near the noisy train tracks. The wooden stairs creaked loudly under their boots as they walked up four flights [music] in the dim light. When Evelyn finally unlocked the door and pushed it open, the small room smelled like old wood and sweet cinnamon tea. It was a very tiny space. There was only a tiny stove in the corner, a single wooden chair, a lumpy brown couch, and a small single bed pushed against the far wall.