They Forced Her to Marry a Sick Man So He Could Die in Peace—But What She Did Next Shocked the Entire City
Episode 1
They said he wouldn't live past the year.
So they gave him a wife—not out of love, but to give him someone to die beside.
She didn't cry. She didn't run.
She married him with empty eyes and a heart full of questions.
But what she did next…
No one—not even his own family—could've seen it coming.
She had never worn a wedding dress before.
Not even during childhood games or teenage fantasies. But there she stood now, stiff in a cream gown that felt more like a costume than a promise. The registrar's office smelled of air freshener and formality, and the silence between her and the man in the wheelchair was thicker than the legal papers on the desk. His name was Mason Carter. Her new husband. Thirty-one years old, dying, and barely able to lift his head.
Samantha Blake was twenty-four, perfectly healthy, and very aware that none of this was about love. The ceremony lasted ten minutes. There were no rings, no vows, no kiss—just signatures. His mother, Mrs. Elaine Carter, thanked her with a trembling voice and eyes that refused to meet hers. "You've done a good thing," she said. "You've given him dignity." But Samantha wasn't sure if that was true—or if she'd just signed up to be a witness to death.
The ride to the house was silent.
Samantha sat in the backseat beside Mason's wheelchair, folded and still. Elaine drove, her hands tight around the steering wheel, and the car moved like it was trying not to disturb the air. The mansion they arrived at was far too big for three people. Marble floors. Crystal chandeliers. A grand piano no one touched. Everything inside screamed wealth, yet nothing felt alive.
Samantha was shown to the guest room across the hall from Mason's. "This is just formality," Elaine said with a smile that didn't touch her eyes. "No one expects anything from you. Just… be kind to him. Keep him company. That's all." Samantha nodded. She hadn't asked for this arrangement. She had debts, an eviction notice, and a mother in a care home. When a stranger offered to settle it all in exchange for a paper marriage to a dying heir, it hadn't felt like a choice. It felt like survival.
Samantha heard him before she saw him again.
A soft, dry cough echoed down the hall in the dead of night. She stepped out of her room, barefoot, and saw the faintest light spilling from under Mason's door. For a moment, she debated walking away—but something made her knock gently. No answer. She pushed the door open slowly. He was awake, staring at the ceiling, eyes dull but focused. For a dying man, he looked oddly aware.
She stood at the doorway, unsure if she should speak. His lips parted slightly, but no sound came. He blinked once, and his gaze shifted—locking directly with hers. It was the first time she truly saw him. Pale skin, sunken cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, but behind it all—he was young. Not old. Not gone. Alive in a body that seemed to be giving up on him. She said nothing. Neither did he. She only nodded and left the door half open as she walked away. But she felt his eyes follow her long after she returned to bed.
The next morning, Samantha found a full breakfast laid out on the dining table—steaming eggs, toast, fresh juice, and cut fruit arranged with care. But no one was seated. The housekeeper nodded at her silently and disappeared. Elaine walked in moments later, perfectly dressed as if she'd stepped out of a magazine shoot. "He doesn't eat with others," she said, pouring herself coffee. "Too tired. You can eat alone or wait until he's done."
Samantha sat down awkwardly, unsure if she was even supposed to enjoy the food. As she lifted her fork, she heard the hum of Mason's electric wheelchair moving through the hallway. He passed the dining room without glancing in. But just before he disappeared around the corner, he paused—briefly—and turned his head. Their eyes met again. Just for a second. It wasn't emotion she saw. It was recognition. And for the first time, Samantha realized something quietly unsettling: he was watching her more than he let on.
That afternoon, Elaine called Samantha into the study. The room smelled of polished wood and expensive silence. A thick envelope sat on the desk between them. "This is your allowance. Monthly. As agreed," Elaine said, sliding it forward. "If you remain respectful, maintain the home environment, and avoid… complications, we won't have any issues." Her tone was firm, almost rehearsed.
Samantha nodded, fingers resting on the envelope but not opening it. "What kind of complications?" she asked. Elaine's eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not his nurse, Samantha. You're not his wife in the traditional sense either. There's no need for emotional entanglement. Mason is… delicate. We simply want him to be comfortable, not confused."
It was clear. They didn't want her to love him. They didn't want him to hope. Samantha rose quietly, left the envelope untouched, and stepped out of the room. She wasn't sure what hurt more—that they didn't expect her to care, or that part of her was starting to.
The sky turned gray that evening, and the first drops of rain tapped against the wide windows. Samantha brought a cup of tea to Mason's room, unasked. He didn't speak, but he didn't push it away either. She set it down gently on the side table and turned to leave when she heard it—a sound so soft she almost missed it.
A chuckle.
Note _ this story belongs to jennylight any other page aside from hers stole it.
She turned around. Mason was looking at the cup, his lips curved ever so slightly. Not a full smile. Just the ghost of one. But it was enough to stop her in her tracks. "You think it's funny?" she asked quietly. He nodded. Barely. Just once. Then he whispered, voice hoarse and unused, "You didn't poison it… right?" It was a joke. A dark one. But it was a sentence. The first sentence.
Samantha stared at him, half in shock, half in disbelief. And then, she smiled too. For the first time since she arrived in that house, something felt alive.
The next morning, Samantha woke with a strange feeling in her chest—one she hadn't known in weeks. Curiosity. She carried Mason's tea to his room again. This time, he was awake before she knocked. "You're early," he rasped, his voice clearer than yesterday. She stepped in and set the tray down. "You're getting better at sounding human," she replied. He let out a low breath that might've been a laugh.
They didn't say much after that, but the silence had changed. It was less like a wall and more like a curtain—thin enough to let light through. As she arranged books on the small shelf by his bed, she noticed one that looked out of place. Older, worn, and tucked behind a row of untouched hardcovers. She pulled it out. A photo album.
Mason stiffened. "Don't open that," he said, tone low but serious. It was the first time she heard authority in his voice. She nodded and put it back without a word. But now she knew—there were stories in that house no one had told her. Not yet.
Samantha noticed it on her third week in the house—there was no nurse. No medical professional came to check on Mason, no doctor visited, no therapist stopped by. For someone who was supposed to be dying, he had no one monitoring his condition but a few pills and silence. That afternoon, as she handed him a new book to read, she asked gently, "Why don't you have a nurse?"
Mason hesitated. His fingers tightened slightly around the book. "Because I fired them all," he said. "They made me feel like a patient. I just wanted to be a person again." Samantha said nothing. She couldn't argue with that, but something still didn't sit right. If he was as sick as they claimed, shouldn't someone have insisted on proper care?
Later that day, she walked past Elaine's study and overheard part of a phone call. "He's stable. No, there's been no change. And no—he doesn't need anyone else. We're handling it." Her tone was clipped. Dismissive. Controlling. Samantha stood in the hallway, heart thudding. For the first time, she began to wonder: what if Mason wasn't dying? What if they just wanted him to?
DEPRUDENT.
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