When I offered to marry a homeless man, I thought I had everything under control. It seemed like a perfect arrangement to please my parents, without any emotional connection. I had no idea that I would be shocked when I returned home after a month. I am Maria, 34 years old, and this is the story of how I went from being a happy, single woman focused on her career to marrying a homeless man, only to have my life turned upside down in an unexpected way. My parents have always been pushing me to get married, for as long as I can remember. It seemed like they had a timer in their heads, counting the seconds until my hair turned white. Because of this pressure, every family dinner became a search for a husband for me. “Maria, my love,” my mother Elena began. “Do you remember the Popescu family’s son? He was just promoted to regional manager in his company. Maybe you should have a coffee with him sometime?” “Mom, I’m not interested in a relationship right now,” I said. “I’m focused on my career.” “But, my love,” my father Ionuț interjected, “a career won’t keep you warm at night. Don’t you want someone to share your life with?” “I share my life with you and my friends,” I replied. “That’s enough for me right now.” But they didn’t give up. It was a constant bombardment of “What about X?” and “Have you heard about that nice boy?” One evening, things took an unexpected turn. It was at Sunday dinner, as always, that my parents dropped the bombshell. “Maria,” my father said in a serious tone. “Your mother and I have spoken.” “Oh no, not again,” I muttered. “We have decided,” he continued, ignoring my sarcasm, “that if you are not married by the time you are 35, you will not see a cent of our inheritance.” “What?” I exclaimed. “You can’t be serious!” “Yes,” my mother said. “We are not young anymore, my love. We want to see you happy and married. And we want grandchildren while we are still young enough to enjoy them.” “This is madness,” I said. “You can’t blackmail me into getting married!” “This is not blackmail,” my father insisted. “It is, er, motivation.” I left their house that night, unable to believe what had just happened. They had given me an ultimatum, suggesting that I must find a husband in the next few months or give up my inheritance. I was angry, but not because of the money. It was more about the principle. How dare they try to control my life like this? For weeks I didn’t answer their calls or visit them. Then one evening I had a great idea. I was on my way home from work, thinking about schedules and deadlines, when I saw him. A man, probably around 40, sitting on the sidewalk with a cardboard box saying he was asking for money. He looked bad, had an unkempt beard and was wearing dirty clothes, but there was something in his eyes. A kindness and a sadness that made me stop.
Then an idea came to me. It was crazy, but it seemed like the perfect solution to all my problems. “Excuse me,” I said to the man. “This may seem strange to you, but… do you want to marry me?” The man’s eyes widened in astonishment. “I’m sorry, huh?” “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but listen to me,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I need to get married as soon as possible. It would be a marriage of convenience. I’ll give you a home, clean clothes, food, and some money. In return, all you have to do is pretend to be my husband. What do you say?” He stared at me for a while, and I had the feeling he thought I was joking. “Girl, are you serious?” he asked. “Absolutely serious,” I assured him. “My name is Maria, by the way.” “Ion,” he replied, still perplexed. “And you’re really offering to marry a homeless man you just met?” I nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but I promise you, I’m not a criminal or anything. I’m just a desperate woman with parents who interfere too much in my life.” “Well, Maria, I have to say, this is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me.” “So, is that yes?” I asked. He looked at me for a while, and I saw that light in his eyes again. “You know what? Why not? We have a deal, future wife.” And so my life took a turn I never imagined. I took Ion shopping for new clothes, had him get ready at the salon, and when I saw what a good-looking man was hiding under all that dirt, I was pleasantly surprised. Three days later, I introduced him to my parents as my secret fiancé. When I said they were shocked, it was a euphemism. “Maria!” my mother exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Well, you know, I wanted to make sure it was something serious before I said anything,” I lied. “But Ion and I are so in love, aren’t we, darling?” Ion, I must admit, played his role brilliantly. He charmed my parents with made-up stories about our whirlwind love. A month later, we got married. I made sure I signed a very solid prenuptial agreement in case my plan failed. But to my surprise, life with Ion wasn’t so bad. He was funny, intelligent, and always willing to help me around the house. We developed an easy friendship, like two roommates who had to pretend to be in love every now and then. Still, there was something that bothered me. Every time I asked Ion about his past, how he ended up on the streets, he would shut down. His eyes would fill with shadows, and he would quickly change the subject. It was a mystery that both fascinated and frustrated me. Then came the day that changed everything. It was a perfectly normal day when I came home from work. When I opened the door, I noticed a strip of rose petals that led me into the living room. The vision that greeted me there took my breath away. The whole room was filled with roses, and a large heart made of petals lay on the floor. And there, in the middle of it all, stood Ion. But it wasn’t the Ion I knew. The jeans and comfortable T-shirts I had bought him were forgotten. Instead, he wore a sleek black suit that seemed to cost more than my monthly rent. And in his hand he held a small velvet box. “Maria,” he said, his voice calm but with a tremor in it. “Please forgive me for not telling you the truth until now. I am not who I claim to be.” “I am not who I claim to be,” he continued, with a sincere look in his eyes. “My name is Andrei, not Ion. I had to hide from my past. My family, my company, everything I had, I lost everything because of a big mistake I made. I chose to live on the streets so as not to be recognized by someone from my past.” I stood frozen, unable to breathe. Everything I knew about Ion crumbled before me like a piece of burnt paper. Instead, there stood before me a man who had nothing to do with the one I had met a few months ago.
“I heard about your plan, how you married me to solve your problems. And I agreed because, despite everything, I didn’t want to leave you in a difficult situation. But Maria, I want you to know that I have started to respect you. I no longer see you as just a convenient partner. I love you.” Tears filled my eyes. How could he tell me this now, when I had already come so far with my plan? How could I back out? I had fallen into a trap of my own making, and now I felt lost. “How did you start to love me?” I asked, my voice shaking. “After I made everything like a deal, like a game, how could you start to love me?” “Because you were there for me, Maria. You believed in me when no one else would have. You looked past my appearance and were willing to help me get back on my feet, even if it was just a convention.” And that’s when I understood. The whole “marriage of convenience” hadn’t just been an act on my part. In a strange way, I had gotten to know another side of Andrei/Ion, a side I hadn’t expected. Maybe everything that had happened to me wasn’t just a compromise, but rather an opportunity to learn about love and what it means to really open up to someone. “Andrei,” I said with a shy smile, “I don’t know what to say.” “You don’t have to say anything now,” he replied, putting the box with the ring on the table. “I just want you to know that you’re not the only one learning. And I want to be there for you, even after all this strange history. What do you think?” I looked at the ring, then raised my eyes to him. And I knew that no matter what happened, my life would never be the same again. “Andrei,” I finally said in a warm voice, “I think I’ve found something that is more than what I was looking for.” And so my life took an unexpected turn, more complicated than I ever imagined, but in a way that made me believe that sometimes the most unpredictable things are the ones that matter the most.
