The Ryu Dynasty Returns

Kairen City.

A taxi rolled to stop outside the Civil Affairs Bureau, then the rear door opened slowly.

A young man stepped out wearing nothing but a simple black shirt and faded blue jeans. He paid the driver and then lifted his eyes toward the courthouse.

A mysterious glint flashed in his eyes.

Riven Wei had returned to Kairen City after eighteen years and today, he was getting married.

Riven glanced at the folded document inside his pocket. It contained a single name.

Odessa Chen.

….

Few minutes later, a sleek black Mercedes pulls over at the entrance. A tall, slender woman steps out of the car. She is dressed in a white dress, her jaw set, her elegant aura immediately drew countless gazes.

“Isn’t that the Chen heiress?” One of them whispers to her companions.

“That’s indeed her. She looks so beautiful.”

“I wonder who she is here to get married to.”

“I’m sure it’s one of the rich heirs in town. Only such men deserve beauties!”

Riven’s brows furrowed as he stared at the woman walking towards him.

So this was Odessa Chen.

Not bad.

She looked nothing like the arrogant heiress he had imagined. But, she also looked thoroughly unhappy to be marrying him.

“You must be Riven Wei,” Odessa says as she stops in front of him, studying him.

“Yes, I am,” he responds coolly.

“Then, let’s get this done with.”

Odessa had expected many things before meeting Riven today.

An arrogant young master or perhaps a spoiled heir clinging to the glory of a fallen family. Instead, the man standing before her was… ordinary.

Too ordinary.

His clothes were simple enough not to even notice him within a crowd, yet there was something strangely composed about him.

Odessa found herself studying him a little longer than she intended.

Rumors claimed the surviving heir of the Wei family had become mentally unstable after his family’s tragedy years ago.

But, looking at him now…

He didn’t resemble a madman.

“Is there something on my face?” Riven asked suddenly.

Odessa blinked, realizing she had been staring.

“No.”

“Then why are you looking at me like I’m some rare animal?”

A faint trace of embarrassment flashed across her features before disappearing just as quickly.

“I was only wondering…” she said honestly.

“Wondering what?”

“Whether the rumors about you are true.”

Riven merely smiled.

“Perhaps you’ll find out after we’re married.”

Without waiting for her response, he walked toward the registry entrance.

For the first time that morning, Odessa felt the slightest curiosity toward the man she had just agreed to marry.

Odessa walked past him into the registry but Riven calls out to her.

“Aren’t we supposed to hold hands?” He raises a brow. “We are getting married after all.”

Odessa’s jaw tightens as she stops, slowly turning around to look at Riven’s outstretched arm. She inhales sharply and takes his hand. As the two walk hand in hand into the courtroom, those outside looked stunned.

…

Countless gazes landed on the couple as they walked into the courtroom together. The deep contrast between the both of them was glaring.

Murmuring quickly spread across the courtroom.

“Is that the man Miss Chen is getting married to?”

“No. You must mistaken,” another whispered. “He could be her bodyguard. Look at the clothes he’s wearing.”

“Couldn’t cost more than 50 bucks,” one added with the wrinkle of his nose.

Odessa and Riven sat down in the waiting room side by side. Odessa looked calm despite the turmoil running deep inside her. She was getting married to a total stranger, a man rumored to be mentally unstable.

What was her grandfather thinking?!

Riven, on the other hand had a blank expression on, he had noticed the disdainful looks of the others as they walked past them.

“Miss Chen, Mister Wei,” a voice called from inside the office. “Please step forward.”

Gasps came from the people in the room.

“He’s from the Wei family? I thought the Wei family had collapsed long ago?”

“Oh my! I heard that the son had escaped the fate of his family but ended up mentally unstable.”

“How can the Chen family allow their daughter to get married to him?”

“What a pity…”

Although most of them had pity in their eyes as they stared at Odessa.

They were secretly joyous.

Odessa was one of the top five beauties in the city and several women were jealous of her, and thought of her as prideful because she had turned down the advances of countless rich heirs on a daily basis.

Seeing her getting married to someone lower than her status made them stare gleefully secretly.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Riven but he didn’t care.

The two approached the registrar’s desk together. Several documents were pushed towards them while a photographer took photos of them.

Odessa didn’t hesitate to sign her name. Riven’s fingers tightened around the pen. He stared intently at the marriage certificate.

This marriage wasn’t born out of love but it was the first step in finding answers that had eluded him for eighteen years.

His reluctance was noticed by both the registrar and Odessa.

“You don’t know how to sign your name?” Odessa asked politely.

He was rumored to be mentally impaired so it wouldn’t be far-fetched that he wouldn’t be able to sign his name. However, Riven shook his head and signed his name under hers.

The registrar looked at them both and smiled professionally.

“Congratulations. Your marriage is now officially recognized under Kairen City law.”

Before either of them could respond, the doors of the courtroom burst open and a young man with several other men about his age walked in.

He stopped right in front of Odessa, her eyes flashed with recognition. Then he glanced at Riven, a smirk forming on his lips.

“So this is the trash grandfather asked you to marry?”