Chapter 1: The CEO’s Million-Dollar Bride (1)┃Remember My Name, Dior Bolton

"Doctor, among the accident victims just brought in from the pile-up, is there someone named Bolton Da-diao... pfft, Ethan Bolton?"

Ryan Carter ran into the central hospital, drenched in sweat, clutching a suit jacket that was already wrinkled beyond recognition.

"In the emergency room. Are you a family member? Please pay the deposit first." The doctor on duty flipped through the records.

"Mr. Carter!" Secretary Grace Bennett, with his chubby body wobbling, hurried over in a fluster, panting heavily at the reception desk. He had just gone out with his boss for a business dinner, barely shook hands with the client, when he got a call from the hospital saying that Ryan Carter's legal husband Ethan Bolton had been in a car accident.

After following Ryan Carter for three years, it was the first time Grace Bennett had seen him so flustered, his face pale as he grabbed his jacket and rushed out. He had to apologize to the client, then used his 180-pound body to run at 180 miles per hour to catch up with his boss, drifting all the way to the hospital.

Ryan Carter tossed a card to his secretary and turned to head for the emergency room.

The chubby Grace Bennett caught his breath, smiled kindly at the doctor on duty, revealing two deep dimples: "Where do I pay?"

Inside the emergency room, a dozen beds covered in blue sheets made Ryan Carter dizzy. He took a deep breath and searched the chaotic crowd for his husband.

Technology is advancing, and society is progressing. Now that same-sex marriage is legal, he and Ethan Bolton have been married for seven years. These seven years had been sweet and uneventful; he never imagined that something like a "car accident" would happen to the guy who nagged him every day to "follow traffic rules."

A multi-car pileup on the overpass left more than twenty injured, all gathered in this emergency room.

"Ah— it hurts so much!"

"Hurry, this one needs surgery right away!"

"Doctor, please save him, wuwuwu..."

Other patients were either surrounded by doctors or family, but his own husband sat alone. His tall body was squeezed onto a bed less than a meter wide, head bowed, a bandage wrapped around his head, looking rather pitiful.

At least he wasn’t missing any limbs. Ryan Carter clenched his icy fingers and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" He draped his suit jacket over Ethan Bolton, whose shirt was missing two buttons, and turned to call a doctor—only to have his wrist grabbed.

Ethan Bolton looked up, a few scratches on his face, a large patch of blood seeping through the bandage on his forehead, but none of it diminished his handsomeness. In his deep black eyes, Ryan Carter's cool and elegant face was reflected. He sneered, "What, are you happy to see me get hurt?"

"Damn it! Bolton Da-diao, what the hell do you mean!" Ryan Carter shook off the hand grabbing him, trembling with anger. He’d been scared out of his wits when he heard about the accident—how could this man say something so hurtful?

Ethan Bolton curled his lips in a strange smile, like a deranged killer in a crime movie—or, as some dramas call it, an "evil, charming smile."

He suddenly pulled Ryan Carter into his arms, pinched his chin with one hand, and drawled in a deep, magnetic voice, "You are already my wife. As long as you behave, I’ll pay off the debt your father owes. Remember my name—Dior Bolton."

Huh?

"Bolton Da-diao, did you hit your head too hard?" Ryan Carter blinked. "My dad is loaded, okay? He just bought two hundred acres downtown the other day. When did he ever owe anyone money?"

Cradling the bandaged head, Ryan Carter was heartbroken. His husband was definitely brain-damaged—he needed to get a doctor for a CT scan right away. He struggled to get up, but Ethan Bolton held him tight.

"Let go."

"You can’t escape from the palm of my hand!"

"......"

"Uh... Mr. Bolton?" Two traffic police officers stood by the bed, looking at the clinging couple, unsure if they should interrupt.

Because Ethan Bolton's car was the best and he was the least injured in the pile-up, they came to question him first.