Chapter 3 - THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT NOBODY SIGNED
William Ashford returned two days later.
Not to propose.
Not to negotiate.
To speak with me.
My father refused to let him inside.
So William waited outside the gates.
I learned about it from the gardener.
“He's been there forty minutes, Miss Clare.”
I stared through the upstairs window.
A black car stood beside the stone entrance.
William leaned against it, speaking into his phone.
He looked completely out of place beneath the flowering trees.
I went downstairs.
My father intercepted me.
“Where are you going?”
“Outside.”
“No.”
I stopped.
He stepped closer.
“You embarrassed this family enough.”
My throat tightened.
“I didn't do anything wrong.”
His face hardened.
“You rejected a man who could have saved us.”
I stared.
“Saved us?”
My father looked away.
Too late.
I understood.
The marriage wasn't about love.
It wasn't even about social status.
It was about money.
“What have you done?” I whispered.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Don't question me.”
Pain shot through my arm.
I flinched.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“Let her go.”
William.
My father released me.
William stood inside the entrance hall, his expression dangerously calm.
“I believe Clare was leaving.”
My father stepped back.
“She is my daughter.”
William looked at him.
“She's an adult.”
Silence.
Then William turned toward me.
“Would you like to take a walk?”
I looked at my father.
His eyes warned me.
I looked back at William.
And nodded.
“Yes.”
Outside, the air smelled of roses.
William walked beside me without speaking.
For several minutes, we followed the gravel path.
Then I asked, “Why did you really come here?”
He stopped.
“To apologize.”
I blinked.
“For what?”
“For asking you to marry me in front of your family.”
I stared.
He continued.
“It was arrogant. I treated a marriage like a business transaction.”
I looked away.
“You did.”
William nodded.
“I know.”
Something about his willingness to admit it unsettled me.
Powerful men in my world never apologized.
They explained why everyone else was wrong.
William reached into his coat.
I stiffened.
He noticed.
Slowly, he withdrew a folded document.
“This is the agreement your father wanted me to sign.”
I took it.
My hands trembled as I read.
The contract described a marriage alliance between the Ashford and Aldrich families.
It also included a transfer of voting rights and control over several trusts.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Clare Eleanor Aldrich.
I stared.
“Why am I here?”
William's expression hardened.
“Because your father needed your marriage to make the transfer look legitimate.”
My stomach turned.
“He was going to use me.”
William nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked up.
“And you knew?”
He hesitated.
“Not until I reviewed the documents.”
I stepped back.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
William didn't approach.
May you like
He simply waited.
Then he said, “Clare, you don't have to trust me. But you deserve to know what belongs to you.”
