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About this story:
He proposed to the wrong woman. His ex wants him back. And somebody’s been keeping a secret far more dangerous than a fake engagement.
⚠️ SNEAKREADER WARNING: LOVE ISN’T THE ONLY THING DANGEROUS HERE! 💍🌹
Welcome to Marry Me, where the engagement is fake, the attraction is real, and everybody has secrets they should’ve taken to the grave.
Reader discretion advised: This dark romantic suspense contains adult themes, sensual situations, strong language, emotional trauma, suicidal thoughts, childhood abandonment, references to childhood sexual abuse and pregnancy involving a minor, family betrayal, manipulation, and deception.
Some characters need therapy. Others need a lawyer. A few need both. 😈
Proceed with caution, protect your peace, and remember: just because he’s fine doesn’t mean he’s good for you.
— Your author, Sylvia Hubbard
Author’s Notes
This is a partial chapter.
I’m prone to do this when I either:
- have to switch POV
- Change the mood
- Leave a cliffhanger
- Cause i want to post, but I don’t have time to post all of it
Day 4 of #novelnovember and we’re on good terms with the book. It’s not work; it’s just a lot of time.
Yesterday, I had to go get my hair done, so I was away from the computer.
Okay, not much talking, but I’d love to hear what you have to say about Finn. And your thoughts on Kam from the last couple of chapters.
Don’t forget the companion novels.
- Her Name is Mine (WIP)
- Desire Me (WIP – Windfall Brother Series Book Three)
And don’t forget to change your status on Goodreads to “Currently Reading” for this story.
Click here to do that
Read as the Author Writes
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Chapter 3 -1. (half a chapter)
“You promised,” he growled through the phone. “You fucking promised.”
“Relax, Finny. You’ll find another way to make our Momma proud,” Sophia sneered with a crackle. “You, we’re doing this for her, not me. Admit it. No woman’s ever gonna be good enough for you or her. When you’re ready to grow up and be a real man, call me up.”
The line clicked.
Finn wanted to chuck the phone in the nearby Detroit River, but he needed it. What the hell was he supposed to do? His mother and all her friends were on the way down there to watch him propose to… who?
Running a hand on the side of his thick, clean taper fade, he paced frantically. He ground his teeth, but as angry as he was, he wasn’t going to sweat. He’d spent hours getting ready to make sure he looked good today.
Sophia shenanigans weren’t going to ruin his look.
His mother! His mother!
How could Sophia do this to HIS mother!
A whiff of…
Something primal made him stop pacing. A familiar smell reminded him… making him forget his current distress.
You haven’t attached in a while. Mother said he needed to pull away so he could convince Sophia he wasn’t a momma’s boy.
Yet he needed it.
He needed comfort.
The urge was so strong he almost wanted to resort to… Damn, he hadn’t thought of even doing that in a very long time. Gritting his teeth and remembering his internal turmoil, he stretched out his fingers, then tightened them into a fist.
He needed something.
His phone chirped.
“We’re almost there. Fifteen minutes. We’ve got the roses,” his friend, Victor Ridge, texted.
Finn wasn’t ready. Yes, he had the perfect cut pinstripe white suit to fit his five-by-eleven broad frame with white alligator shoes, shining through the dull fall day. He did take a moment to line his jacket to make sure his suit coat was perfectly aligned because he didn’t want his mother to ever see him out of line.
Anger seethed through him, knowing his proposal was ruined.
Sophia was supposed to get here at the same moment as his mother. Meeting him there as they stayed back to watch him propose. Somewhere, a camera guy was hiding around the carousel to capture this moment. It was supposed to be perfect… for his mother, and Sophia was fucking it all up…
Stupid–
His thoughts stopped again as the familiar smell came from the wind.
The scent from earlier returned, and he turned around, looking for a mother with a child, positive it was what was drawing his thoughts away from his problem.
His eyes caught on a woman setting down two bags by the carousel and attaching a note to them. She was dressed in a beautiful red wedding dress with a red veil and red shoes.
Five foot four, thickly, deliciously built with bright red lips. She had a firm fluffiness about her voluptuous body he’d missed enjoying, but those women weren’t into kinks. A lot of sex, but not kinks. Plus, he didn’t think those types of women could deal with a momma’s boy.
He usually liked really large breasts. The ones that didn’t fit in bras, spilling over the cleavage. Hers were normal handfuls, but she had those baby-making hips, and beautiful thick calves he could imagine wrapping around him, and when she turned around … damn, and ass… Nice, squeezable, and…
Shit. She wasn’t Sophia, and he needed to fix this situation before his mother arrived.
Again, his eyes were drawn to the women. Red suited her, and it was his mother’s favorite color. His mother would have loved this dress. And Finn was all about making his mom happy.
His feet got involved, especially when he realized no man was around. This woman was dressed like she was about to marry the river in a private ceremony. The red veil hid the details of her face, but from where he stood, he could see those beautiful, naturally pouty lips.
Why did you care how she looked under that veil? You just need a body. And she had a nice one.
A couple of hours. Finn could borrow her. Give her whatever to fake it, then tell his mom he broke it off.
His mother had never seen or met Sophia. Finn had been terrified his mother would scare another one away. He’d only mentioned her every once in a while but never even by name. His mother had never pressed because she wanted to see him happy.
Her time was limited.
The cancer had returned more aggressively than last time…
The woman who had caught his eye was maybe about forty steps away from him now. She was about mid-thirties and was turning toward the river with a serious resting bitch face. On a Tuesday morning, hardly anyone was around.
He’d known this – planned this- and Sophia was fucking up all his arrangements. He stretched out his fingers and then balled them into a fist again several times to fight off the anxiety creeping into him, like he’d stepped on an anthill and they were already in his bloodstream, crawling up his legs, thighs, tightening his stomach and spreading through the top of his body.
Finn needed serious comfort, and he knew nothing could come close to soothing him except what his mother could do.
What are you going to do when she’s gone? Go back on the medication?
No! Hell No!
His thought on this was firm. The side effects were indescribably horrible. Yet he had no other solution if his mother…
Stop thinking about that now. Get focused.
An invisible band tightened around his chest; the internal ants were getting worse. He had to stop thinking about the future and concentrate on the now. Solve this problem.
Do anything to make Momma happy!
By then, she had stepped up onto the side of the fence, and he couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she was going to put her leg over the rail. Was she trying to take a photo for her social media? Hell, he’d pay his cameraman to help her out if she could be his Sophia for a couple of hours.
He needed to get over there before his mother arrived.
Whatever this woman’s purpose for dressing up and coming down to the river, Finn couldn’t care less. He needed a fiancée like yesterday, and this mysterious woman who strangely drew him was perfect for now.
___ *** ___
End of This Chapter | Post your thoughts in the comments | Let the author know what’s going on in your head
Marry Me (c) 2026 Sylvia Hubbard. All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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