Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
“He’s kept me hidden away at a boarding school for fifteen years,” she continued, bitterness seeping into her determinedly unemotional voice. “First, as a student, and then I was strongly encouraged to stay there as a teaching assistant. He refused to release any funds for my college tuition—stating it would be wasted on someone with my mediocre intelligence. He has absolute and iron clad control over my life. I have no doubt that if I marry Richard, I would lose what little agency I have left.
“But… I can marry someone else. That night, at the gala, it was the first time I’d ever been allowed to attend any kind of function without him always hovering and controlling whom I spoke to or interacted with. He had to cancel at the last minute, but he thought because my stepsisters were there, I’d be more closely monitored than I was. I absolutely knew who you were, Niall Caden Hawthorne, and at first—even though I knew my stepfather pretty much despised you and your family—I believed that you cut from the same cloth as Granger and Richard…” He made a disgusted noise, but his glowering gaze never deviated from her face.
He’d shown very little reaction or emotion while she spoke and Fern worried that everything she was saying was falling on deaf, unsympathetic ears. Maybe he didn’t care. Why should he? She was a stranger to him and perhaps she’d chosen unwisely, but at this moment in time, she had little choice but to follow through. Because if not Cade Hawthorne, then whom? She had absolutely no other options.
“But you’re not like them, are you?” Her question was almost pleading. “I sensed it that night. I could tell that you were different. You’ll help me.”
“How am I supposed to help you?” he suddenly grated out, his voice harsh, curt, and more than a little terrifying. “And—more to the point—why should I? Because we had sex? That’s a lot of baggage to pin on a guy for a quick, mediocre fuck.”
She swallowed again, trying not to flinch at his words. It was nothing she hadn’t expected.
“I can give you Lambecrete.”
“We’re on the verge of finalizing the deal for Lambecrete. I don’t see what incentive I have to help you if that’s the only thing of real value you have to offer me.”
“For two hundred million pounds!” she pointed out, her voice shaking with fear and frustration. “And rest assured, there will be so many strings attached to that deal, you’ll be trying to unravel your way through all his bullshit for months to come still. If I were to marry, Granger’s trusteeship falls away and my assets will be released into my name.”
“If you were to marry me, you mean?” His voice dripped with cynicism and she flinched.
“Yes, of course.”
“And how exactly does that make you different from Granger? From your sisters?”
“They’re not my sisters,” she corrected stiffly. “And I’m different because I’m not looking for a permanent arrangement, Cade. Marry me and Lambecrete is yours. No strings, no hidden clauses. All I ask is that the marriage lasts three years. Until I’m thirty. If we divorced before then Granger would find a way to regain control of my trust. You’re an attorney, right? You write the terms of our marriage contract; you make sure you get the best deal possible out of this union. Lambecrete at no cost whatsoever. All I want is the clear, written stipulation that you’ll leave everything else alone.”
“Why would you trust me to leave the rest alone?”
“Because you don’t need it. You don’t want it. I’ve done my due diligence. You’ve got your own money, much more than I stand to inherit. The only thing you and your family want from me is Lambecrete, and I’ll happily gift it to you. Call it my dowry.”
“Look, this is—”
“It’s a lot,” she completed for him. “I know it is. Marrying a stranger. You know next to nothing about me.”
“Yeah, and why is that?” he asked, his eyes diamond hard and glittering with suspicion.
“Like I said, he kept me hidden. He controls every aspect of my life. I can’t even buy new clothing without his explicit consent. I-I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t really know how to do anything useful, aside from running this house. Nine years ago, I tried to leave. I had a friend; one he knew nothing about—someone from school. She said I could stay with her while I looked for work. That…” She paused, the memory leaving a bitter tang of sadness in her mouth. “Well, it didn’t go so well.”
He sighed explosively and palmed the nape of his neck, which he massaged, while glowering at her from beneath the silky black hair which had fallen over his forehead.
“This all makes zero sense…” he pointed out. “Far be it from me to look a so-called gift horse in the mouth, but you don’t have to marry anyone. He can’t force you to marry Wilson. We’re not living in the 19th century. Just wait it out, for fuck’s sake. Why the urgency to marry and marry now?”