Traded for the Senator’s True Bride / Chapter 2: Arizona Roads and Broken Promises
Traded for the Senator’s True Bride

Traded for the Senator’s True Bride

Author: Thomas Marquez


Chapter 2: Arizona Roads and Broken Promises

Two years ago, I followed a trucking convoy to Arizona to sell salt, and met Jason on the road.

The Arizona air shimmered with heat, the smell of diesel and dry grass thick in my nose. The endless highway stretched ahead, dust rising from the eighteen-wheelers. The world felt stripped to basics—survival, hunger, hope.

The refugees had no home or land. He blended in with the other drifters, limping along the highway until his ankle gave out and he tumbled into a ditch.

No one cared.

He lay in the ditch, covered in knife wounds, his clothes in tatters.

He grabbed my sleeve, his eyes full of desperate hope. “Ma’am, help me…”

His voice was rough, cracked from thirst and pain. It startled me how young he sounded up close—so different from the older men in our group.

After washing his face, I was surprised.

Jason turned out to be a handsome young man.

Even after traveling the country with Dad, I had never seen anyone so handsome.

I was stunned for a moment, my cheeks flushing.

Jason told me he was from D.C., a grad student whose family was implicated in a political scandal. His entire family’s assets were seized, and he became a refugee.

“Please, ma’am, help me. I’ll pay you back someday.”

For him, I stayed in Flagstaff, rented a two-bedroom house, and cared for him attentively.

The neighbors said he was cold and aloof, and might not be grateful.

I just smiled.

That day, I went shopping and brought him a folding fan.

He slowly opened it, his gaze flickering, and asked gently, “You treat me so well. I don’t know how to repay you.”

I joked, “Then why don’t you marry me?”

He replied, “Alright.”

I laughed, thinking he was kidding, but he didn’t laugh back. There was a strange earnestness in his eyes. It made me shiver a little, and a weird kind of hope bloomed in my chest.

Before Thanksgiving, he even set up a little stand at the farmers’ market, writing fancy signs and names for a few bucks. Then he made me a copper hairpin, the design drawn by his own hand.

He handed it to me, his fingers brushing mine—just for a second, his tough guy act slipped. He said he had nothing valuable for an engagement gift, so he could only give me this hairpin, to gather up my hair.

I felt I had found a treasure.

I wrote to Dad, telling him I had found my ideal husband and would no longer travel with the convoy.

From then on, I had a home and a husband.

I thought the worst was over and the best was yet to come. I believed I’d found my place in the world—simple, maybe, but real.

You may also like

Traded as the Heir’s Secret Bride
Traded as the Heir’s Secret Bride
4.8
For three years, I was forced to slip into the Callahan heir’s bed, a shadow of his fragile wife—my own identity erased in the darkness. When I begged for a place in his world, he offered only cold rejection and cruel truths: I was nothing but a servant, never worthy of love or status. Desperate to save my sister from a worse fate, I offered myself as a widow bride to a dying man—trading one gilded cage for another, as the man I secretly loved watched in stunned silence.
Traded for His Freedom, Never His Heart
Traded for His Freedom, Never His Heart
4.7
To save his disgraced family, Caleb Lin marries me—a nobody with nothing but callused hands and a borrowed name. For three years, I played the loyal wife while he pined for his childhood sweetheart, Grace. Now that his father's name is cleared, all that's left is a divorce agreement and a heart that never truly belonged to me.
I Was Traded for My Sister’s Groom
I Was Traded for My Sister’s Groom
4.8
Tessa was forced to marry her sister’s fiancé after a scandalous runaway bride drama—only to spend three years as the substitute wife, invisible in her own home. Betrayed by her family and haunted by the man she could never truly have, she finally escapes, vowing never to look back. But when she returns for her sister’s wedding, her ex-husband’s jealousy and a new, possessive lover ignite a war of hearts and secrets the whole town is dying to watch unravel.
Traded for Cookies: The Governor’s Nameless Bride
Traded for Cookies: The Governor’s Nameless Bride
4.8
Maddie, the governor’s forgotten daughter, is bartered away in her sister’s place—her only reward, a box of lemon bars and the hope of a full belly. Abandoned by her family and mistaken for a pawn, she’s thrust into a brutal marriage alliance with the war-scarred conqueror of the northwest, who threatens to kill her for being a fraud. With no name, no allies, and only her stubborn hope, Maddie must survive a husband who wants her dead and a world that never wanted her at all.
Sold to the President’s Son for Revenge
Sold to the President’s Son for Revenge
4.8
Ten years ago, my sister traded her body to save my life, becoming the president’s captive bride. Now she’s arranged my marriage to the president’s castoff son—a fate meant to keep me safe, but I crave vengeance, not safety. I’ll use my new husband, seduce the vice president, and burn the regime that destroyed us, even if it means betraying the only family I have left.
He Chose My Half-Sister as His Bride
He Chose My Half-Sister as His Bride
4.7
Morgan’s engagement to Evan shatters when he humiliates her and demands her perfect half-sister as his real wife. Betrayed and branded as 'damaged goods,' Morgan is exiled to the South, forced to rebuild her life while her childhood love claims her sister. But Evan isn’t done with her—and now, Morgan must decide: will she remain his discarded side piece, or fight for her own worth, no matter the cost?
Traded for Freedom: The Soldier’s Choice
Traded for Freedom: The Soldier’s Choice
4.7
Pierce always thought I’d wait in the shadows while he married power, never dreaming another man might offer me a way out. Now I must choose: stay his secret, or risk everything for Sergeant Young’s promise of a real life. On the day Pierce weds the senator’s daughter, I’ll make my own escape—if I’m brave enough to take it.
Traded to the Broken Hero
Traded to the Broken Hero
4.7
Wounded war hero Marcus is forced into a humiliating arranged marriage with Natalie, a quirky small-town girl everyone calls 'unworthy.' As political enemies circle and his health fails, her fierce loyalty and innocent questions awaken a hope he thought was dead. But when the President comes to claim her, Marcus realizes he might lose the only light left in his haunted life.
Traded by My Sister to the Wrong Groom
Traded by My Sister to the Wrong Groom
4.8
Forced into a loveless marriage by her ambitious sister’s White House schemes, Natalie’s heart shatters as she’s ordered to wed the wrong Hayes brother. Betrayed by family and abandoned by the man she loves, her only friend vanishes under mysterious, violent circumstances—leaving Natalie trapped in a gilded cage of grief, secrets, and simmering danger. When her husband’s rage turns deadly, she realizes the real threat isn’t just losing love—it’s surviving her new life at any cost.
Traded for the Bridesmaid’s Love
Traded for the Bridesmaid’s Love
4.8
Eight years together, and Marcus erases me with a single word—'childhood friend.' At our friend’s wedding, I watch him give my favorite plush and his heart to another, while the crowd cheers for their new romance. Betrayed and humiliated, I open our hotel room door to hear him with her—and realize the man I loved is gone forever.
Married Into Debt: The Card Shark Bride
Married Into Debt: The Card Shark Bride
4.8
On her wedding day, her husband drunkenly gambles away their future in a rigged family card game—losing the exact amount of their secret dowry. Trapped by ruthless relatives, she must sit at the table herself, risking everything her family owns to win it all back. But nobody in this small-town basement knows the bride’s real past—or that tonight, she’s ready to outplay them all.
Traded for Her Savior’s Debt
Traded for Her Savior’s Debt
4.7
Aubrey spent her life loving Derek—the man who raised her like a princess, only to cast her aside for the woman who lost her legs saving him. Betrayed and accused, Aubrey is forced to apologize for a crime she didn’t commit, realizing she’ll never be chosen, only tolerated. With her heart shattered, she walks away from the only home she’s ever known, determined to reclaim her life and leave the pain behind—but Derek’s cold eyes haunt her every step.