Then, turning to Skylar with wide eyes, he asked in disbelief, “Where did you find this actor?”
Skylar blinked. “Actor?”
Steven’s mind was racing. He seriously wondered if this man was just someone hired to look like Joe Martin—a professional impersonator sent to trick her. After all, the resemblance was uncanny, and people pulled off stranger things these days.
Joe chuckled at the accusation, the corner of his lips lifting with amusement.
“Steven, he’s not an actor,” Skylar said, stifling a laugh of her own. “He really is Joe Martin. We’re married. I have the photos of our marriage certificate if you don’t believe me.”
She pulled out her phone and quickly found the images. Then she handed it to Steven.
He took the phone with a doubtful look, scrutinizing the screen. If the pictures were fake, he was confident he’d be able to tell.
But they weren’t.
The document looked official—clear seals, authentic formatting, and their full names. The date of registration was also recent.
“Are you really the Joe Martin?” Steven asked, still reeling. “The CEO of Martin Group?”
Joe gave a faint, polite smile and nodded. “Yes.”
Steven sat back in his chair, dazed. For a few seconds, he just stared at Joe as if he were seeing a ghost.
Of course Steven knew Joe Martin. Everyone in Jipsburg did. He was one of the most influential business figures in the city. Martin Group was a powerhouse across several industries.
What he couldn’t wrap his head around was the fact that his own sister had married him.
Still skeptical, Steven opened his phone and did a quick search. A flood of search results and high-definition media images confirmed what Skylar had said.
Joe’s profile came up instantly—press interviews, financial news clips, photos at award events. The man sitting across from him now matched the public persona exactly.
He’d seen Joe Martin before, just not in person. And he’d never expected this.
Skylar noticed Steven still looked uncertain.
“Steven, remember I mentioned Grandma Gloria before? Joe is her grandson. She introduced us and helped bring us together.”
The mention of Gloria seemed to ground him.
Gloria was a respected figure and Viola’s longtime friend. And since Steven trusted Viola like family, anyone she vouched for carried weight.
Hearing her name finally made Steven lower his phone. He looked at Skylar in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
Skylar gave him a helpless look and glanced at Joe.
From the start, their marriage had been a private matter. She couldn’t just bring it up, especially before things were settled.
Joe stepped in smoothly. “Because of some internal matters in the Martin family, Skye and I agreed to keep our marriage low-profile for now. There are complicated dynamics involved, and we didn’t want unnecessary attention or trouble.”
He spoke calmly and with conviction.
“Once certain things are dealt with, we’ll announce the marriage publicly,” he continued. “But right now, we’d rather avoid unnecessary noise.”
Skylar nodded beside him. “Steven, I just started working. I want to keep a low profile too. If people find out I’m married, especially to him, it might cause issues at work.”
Steven exhaled slowly and reached for his beer. After taking a long sip, he muttered, “Give me a second to digest all this.”
It was a lot to take in.
A few moments ago, he thought he was just going to have a casual dinner with his sister and meet the new guy she’d married. He hadn’t expected to be sitting across from Joe Martin.
The same Joe Martin that every socialite in Jipsburg dreamed of marrying.
In fact, some of Steven’s own classmates—especially those in entertainment circles—had once joked that they’d rather stay single forever than marry anyone other than Joe Martin.
And now, that man was sitting across from him, dressed in a tailored suit and sipping cold tea at a barbecue restaurant.
His sister’s husband.
It was hard to wrap his head around it.
Steven took another sip of beer, trying to calm the storm in his mind. But just as the shock began to fade, a new question rose to the surface—one more important than all the rest.
Joe might be powerful. He might be handsome, wealthy, and respected. But did he truly care about Skylar?
Steven narrowed his eyes slightly and looked Joe straight in the eye.
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