Chapter 1: The Unexpected Marriage

Charlotte Cole's POV:

The July sun beat down mercilessly on Palo Alto. I had barely stepped through my front door, not even having time to take off my shoes, when I noticed the strange tension in the air and the collection of exquisite gift boxes piled up in the living room.

"Mom? Dad? Why are there so many gifts in the house? What's going on?" I tossed my backpack onto the sofa and called out loudly.

My parents sat silently in the living room, their faces grave. My heart sank as I sensed something was about to happen.

"Sweetheart," my mother began cautiously, "we need to talk."

Twenty minutes later, I stared at my parents in disbelief, my voice rising with each word. "Dad, what are you saying? You want me to get married? Are you so broke that you're selling your daughter for status? Aren't you afraid of being despised by thousands? "

My mother, Elizabeth, displeased with my bluntness, gently patted my shoulder. "Calm down, dear. We called you home specifically to discuss this marriage proposal with you."

I pointed at the expensive gifts piled on the floor, fuming with anger. "Mom, you've already accepted these gifts and now you're telling me you want to 'discuss' it with me?"

I was just a sophomore in college. Summer vacation had barely begun, and before I could even enjoy it, my mother had summoned me home urgently with a phone call, only to inform me that someone had chosen me for marriage.

"Who?!" I asked, growing increasingly agitated.

"A prestigious Bay Area family, the second son of the Kingsley family—Alexander Kingsley."

Upon hearing this name, I froze as if struck by lightning and sat motionless on the sofa.

My parents exchanged worried glances, watching my reaction.

Mom tentatively continued, "Tomorrow, our families have agreed to sit down for a meal, get to know each other a little, and you—"

"Mom, let me process this." I cut her off, mechanically standing up and walking upstairs to my bedroom.

Alone, I collapsed onto my bed, tossing and turning, loudly venting my emotions.

The Kingsley family was a legendary presence in the San Francisco Bay Area—a dynasty with generations of business success. People often said, "One decision from the Kingsley family can shift the direction of the entire Silicon Valley." We couldn't possibly afford to offend such a powerful family.

Alexander was even more mysterious. Information about him was scarce; people only knew that he was the second son of the Kingsley family, 28 years old, and had never been photographed by the media. Rumors suggested he was hideously ugly, suffered from a terrible disease, which explained why he remained unmarried.

Thinking about this made me even more anxious. An arranged marriage was bad enough, but to a man 8 years older than me, who was supposedly ugly—nobody could accept that.

Looking across the entire Bay Area, I could find wiggle room with a proposal from any family, but not with the Kingsleys. I couldn't simply refuse them outright. Even someone as rebellious as me knew the Kingsley family was an untouchable boundary.

I rested my face in my hands, saying, "Why choose me? What should I do? Is there no other way? Do I have to marry him? He's so much older than me, while I'm just a student who doesn't want to enter the grave of marriage so early." I frowned deeply, grabbed a nearby pillow to cover my head, and sank into worry.

After a night of tossing and turning, I arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant the next day with a dramatically altered appearance.

I had carefully applied artificial red pimples all over my face, densely packed. When speaking, I deliberately emitted an unpleasant odor. My teeth were covered with brown stains, and I even created the illusion of missing teeth! A mismatched yellow silk scarf wrapped around my head, death-Barbie pink lipstick smeared across my lips, and my nail polish was even more garish—one red, one pink, one purple... ten fingers, ten different colors.

Overall, my appearance couldn't merely be described as unattractive or ugly—it was downright revolting!

At the appointed time, Mr. Richard and his butler arrived at the restaurant. I looked behind them to confirm no one else was coming.

My father stood up and somewhat awkwardly pointed at me as he introduced, "Mr. Richard, this is my daughter Charlotte."

The moment Richard Kingsley looked up at me, his pupils contracted sharply. He was clearly shocked by my appearance. He instinctively put on his glasses and photographed his butler to compare with the person standing before him.

In the photo, I had smiling eyes, a sweet face, and a charming appearance. He exchanged glances with his butler behind him, looking completely confused, seemingly unable to understand why the person before him had greasy hair, a face covered in red pimples, emitted a strange odor, and looked... so repulsive even ghosts would be disgusted.

I could almost guess Richard's thoughts—he was probably relieved that his son Alexander hadn't come. If he had, he would certainly have rejected this marriage.

"How is this so different from the photograph?" Richard unconsciously asked aloud.

I pretended to be timid, answering meekly, "The photo was heavily filtered. This is my real appearance."

I carefully observed Richard's expression and noticed the hesitation in his eyes. Inwardly, I rejoiced, knowing the Kingsley family couldn't accept someone like me.

My anxious parents, watching Richard's reaction, also seemed to think my strategy was effective.

So my father broke the silence first: "Mr. Richard, we deceived you with that photograph, and that's our fault. Perhaps we should call off this marriage, and I'll have all these exquisite gifts returned to the Kingsley residence immediately."

But Richard Kingsley unexpectedly replied, "That won't be necessary. I quite like this girl Charlotte."

"What?!" The three of us exclaimed simultaneously, incredulous.

I couldn't believe that my carefully designed repulsive appearance didn't bother Richard Kingsley at all and hadn't shaken his decision in the slightest. This broke our expectations and made me feel like a complete fool.