Chapter 6: Quickfire Wedding

I never imagined my wedding day would involve dodging bullets.

The makeshift altar in Ethan's penthouse gleamed under the warm glow of hastily arranged candles. Outside, the New York skyline twinkled, oblivious to the tension crackling in the air. I smoothed down my cream silk blouse – the closest thing to bridal attire I could manage on such short notice – and tried to calm my racing heart.

Ethan stood beside me, his jaw clenched, eyes scanning the room. He looked more like a soldier preparing for battle than a groom. Then again, this was no ordinary wedding.

"You ready for this, Dr. Chen?" he whispered, his breath warm against my ear.

I suppressed a shiver. "As ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Drake."

The justice of the peace, a small, nervous man who'd been sworn to secrecy, cleared his throat. "Shall we begin?"

I nodded, acutely aware of the weight of the quantum data chip hidden in my bra. The key to my research, to our charade, to potentially saving the world's economy. All riding on this absurd ceremony.

"Dearly beloved—" the justice began, but Ethan cut him off.

"Skip the flowery stuff. We need this done fast."

I couldn't blame him. Every second we delayed was another second for our enemies to find us.

As the justice fumbled with his notes, I caught movement in my peripheral vision. Ethan's head of security, a granite-faced woman named Martinez, spoke urgently into her earpiece by the window.

My stomach dropped. "Ethan," I murmured, tilting my head towards Martinez.

He followed my gaze, his body tensing. "Hurry it up," he growled at the justice.

"Do you, Ethan James Drake, take Olivia Marie Chen to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Ethan's voice was firm, his eyes never leaving Martinez.

"And do you, Olivia Marie Chen, take Ethan James Drake to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

I hesitated for a fraction of a second. This marriage was a sham, a means to an end. But it was also my ticket to unraveling the biggest economic mystery of our time. And, if I was honest with myself, there was something about Ethan that intrigued me beyond his company's data.

"I do," I said, surprised by the steadiness in my voice.

"Then by the power vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you—"

The windows exploded inward in a shower of glass.

Ethan tackled me to the ground, shielding me with his body as gunfire erupted around us. The justice of the peace screamed, diving behind a leather armchair.

"Stay down!" Ethan shouted over the chaos, his arms tight around me.

My heart pounded against my ribcage, the data chip digging into my skin. I could smell Ethan's cologne mingled with the acrid scent of cordite. Some wedding night.

Martinez and her team returned fire, their bullets pinging off the sleek modern furniture. I caught glimpses of black-clad figures rappelling through the shattered windows.

"We need to move," Ethan said, his lips brushing my ear. "There's a panic room behind my office. Can you run?"

I nodded, adrenaline surging through my veins. "Lead the way, husband."

A ghost of a smile touched his lips before his face hardened once more. "On three. One... two... three!"

We scrambled to our feet and sprinted across the penthouse, keeping low. A bullet whizzed past my head, so close I felt the air displacement. I bit back a scream.

Ethan's office was a museum of tech innovation, but I had no time to admire it as we raced inside. He slammed his palm against a seemingly blank wall, and a hidden door slid open.

"Get in!" he yelled, practically shoving me through the entrance.

I stumbled into the panic room, my eyes widening at the array of monitors and equipment lining the walls. Ethan followed, sealing the door behind us with a pneumatic hiss.

For a moment, we stood there, chests heaving, staring at each other in the dim blue glow of the screens.

"Well," I said, attempting to smooth my disheveled hair, "that was some ceremony."

Ethan's laugh was short and sharp. "Not exactly the wedding night I had in mind, Dr. Chen."

"Olivia," I corrected him. "If we're married, you might as well use my first name."

"Olivia," he repeated, and something in his tone made my pulse quicken. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

I did a quick mental inventory. "I'm fine. You?"

He nodded, then turned to the bank of monitors. "Let's see what we're dealing with."

The screens flickered to life, showing multiple angles of the penthouse. My stomach churned at the destruction. Bodies littered the floor – thankfully, all wearing the black tactical gear of the attackers. Martinez and her team had done their job well.

"Who are they?" I asked, leaning closer to study the footage.

"I have my suspicions," Ethan said grimly. "But I can't be certain until—"

He broke off as one of the intruders removed their helmet. My breath caught in my throat.

The face staring up at the camera was eerily familiar. High cheekbones, piercing eyes, a small scar above the left eyebrow.

It was my face.

"That's... that's impossible," I whispered, my mind reeling.

Ethan's hand found mine, squeezing gently. "Olivia, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you before all this started."

I turned to him, a chill running down my spine at his expression. "What is it?"

He took a deep breath. "The quantum data chip you're carrying? It's not just financial information. It's the key to something much bigger. Something that could change the very nature of reality as we know it."

"What are you talking about?" My voice sounded strange to my own ears.

"Parallel universes, Olivia. We've found a way to access them. And that woman out there who looks like you? She's not just a lookalike. She's you. From another dimension."

The room seemed to spin around me. I gripped the edge of the console to steady myself. "That's... that's not possible. Parallel universes are theoretical. They're—"

"Very real," Ethan finished. "And now they're at war. With us caught in the middle."

A loud bang echoed from the other side of the panic room door. Then another. And another.

Ethan's eyes met mine, a mixture of determination and regret swirling in their depths. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Olivia. But I need your help to save not just our world, but all of them."

The banging intensified. The reinforced door began to buckle.

"Will you trust me?" Ethan asked, holding out his hand.

As I stared at his outstretched palm, my mind raced with the implications of what he'd revealed. Parallel universes. Other versions of myself. A multidimensional war. It was insane. Impossible.

And yet, the evidence was literally beating down our door.

I thought of the economic anomalies I'd been studying, the patterns that never quite added up. Had this been the missing piece all along?

The door groaned, metal shrieking as it began to give way.

I made my decision.

I took Ethan's hand.

"What's the plan?" I asked, squeezing his fingers.

A panel slid open in the far wall, revealing a swirling vortex of energy.

Ethan's lips quirked into a half-smile. "How do you feel about a honeymoon in another dimension?"

Before I could respond, the panic room door exploded inward. My doppelganger stood in the smoking entrance, her eyes locked on mine.

Ethan pulled me toward the vortex. "Time to go!"

As we leapt into the unknown, one thought blazed through my mind:

This was definitely not the wedding night I had imagined.