Chapter Five

  

  “Miri?” It was her father’s voice. “Can you come downstairs? I need to speak with you in my study.” When the knock came at her door, she expected Susan with tea or maybe Lucas with another pointless apology.

  

  Something in his tone made Miriam’s stomach drop. “What’s this about?”

  

  “Just come down, sweetheart. It’s important.”

  

  Miriam marked her page and stood, dread pooling in her gut. Important conversations with her father never ended well, especially when Margaret was likely involved. She walked slowly down the stairs and through the hallway to Thomas’s study, each step feeling heavier than the last.

  

  The study door was open. Thomas sat behind his desk, looking uncomfortable. Margaret perched in one of the leather chairs, perfectly composed, a slight smile playing at her lips. They were waiting for her. This was planned.

  

  “Sit down, Miriam,” Thomas said.

  

  “I’ would rather stand.” Miriam crossed her arms. “What’s this about?”

  

  Thomas glanced at Margaret, who gave him an encouraging nod. That tiny gesture told Miriam everything she needed to know. Whatever was coming, Margaret had orchestrated it.

  

  “We need to discuss an opportunity,” Thomas began. “Something that could be very beneficial for you and for the family.”

  

  “What kind of opportunity?”

  

  Margaret spoke up, her voice smooth as silk. “Damien Rhodes has expressed romantic interest in you. He’s made a very generous proposal.”

  

  The words didn’t immediately make sense. Miriam stared at her stepmother, trying to process what she was hearing. “So?”

  

  “So he wants to marry you,” Thomas said. “And in exchange, he’s offered to broker the partnership deal with Rhodes International. The one we’ve been pursuing for five years.”

  

  The floor seemed to tilt beneath Miriam’s feet. “I’m sorry, what?”

  

  “It’s an excellent match,” Margaret continued, that smile still in place. “The Rhodes family is one of the wealthiest in the country. And the business implications for Wellington Enterprises are extraordinary.”

  

  “Are you out of your mind?” Miriam’s voice came out strangled. “You’re trying to trade me for a business deal?”

  

  “Nobody’s trading anyone,” Thomas said quickly. “This is about creating a beneficial partnership between two families. These kinds of strategic alliances…”

  

  “Strategic alliances?” Miriam laughed, but it came out all wrong. “Are you serious? This is my life we’re talking about. You can’t really expect me to marry some guy I barely know.”

  

  “You’ll have time to get to know him,” Margaret said. “That’s what engagements are for.”

  

  “I don’t want to get to know him!” Miriam’s voice rose. “I don’t want an engagement! How can you even ask me this? “First it was the promotion, now this? All in one week.

  

  Thomas stood and moved around his desk, his expression pleading. “Miriam, sweetheart, I know this seems sudden. But this partnership with Rhodes International, it’s everything we’ve been working toward. It would secure the company’s future for generations. Think about what your mother built, what she would want for….”

  

  “Don’t.” Miriam held up a hand, her whole body shaking. “Don’t you dare bring Mom into this. Don’t you dare use her memory to justify selling me off like I’m some kind of business asset.”

  

  “That’s not what this is,” Thomas insisted.

  

  “Then what is it?” Miriam looked between them, her heart breaking. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re trading your daughter to close a deal. It looks like I’m worth less to you than a merger with Rhodes International.”

  

  “You’re being dramatic,” Margaret said, her tone sharp. “This is a business decision, and it’s time you started thinking about what’s best for this family instead of just yourself.”

  

  “What’s best for the family?” Miriam turned on her. “Or what’s best for you? Getting me out of this house, out of the company, out of your way permanently?”

  

  Margaret’s smile turned cold. “I won’t lie and say it wouldn’t simplify things. You’ve been a complication since your father married me.”

  

  “Margaret,” Thomas yelled, like that would stop her.

  

  Miriam looked at her father, and saw him clearly for perhaps the first time. Weak. Controlled. So thoroughly under Margaret’s influence that he couldn’t see what he was doing to his own daughter.

  

  “How can you expect me to marry someone I don’t love?” Miriam asked, her voice breaking. “Dad, please. I barely know this man. I don’t want him. I don’t want this. How can you ask me to spend my life with someone just because it’s good for business?”

  

  “Love comes with time,” Thomas said gently, and somehow that made it worse. “Your mother and I were lucky, but most marriages in families like ours, they’re built on respect, on shared goals, on…”

  

  “On business deals?” Miriam finished. “Is that what I am to you? Just another asset to leverage?”

  

  “You’re my daughter, and I love you. I want what’s best for you”

  

  “Then let me choose!” The words burst out of her. “Let me have some say in my own life! You took my promotion, you’ve let Margaret make my life hell for twenty-four years, and now you want to take my future too? What’s left, Dad? What part of me do I actually get to choose?”

  

  Thomas flinched. “This isn’t easy for me either, Miriam. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good. This deal with Rhodes International…”

  

  “I don’t care about the deal!” Miriam was crying now, tears of rage and heartbreak streaming down her face. “I don’t care about the company or the merger or any of it! I care that my own father is trying to force me into a marriage I don’t want!”

  

  “No one’s forcing you,” Margaret said smoothly. “We’re simply asking you to consider what’s best for everyone. Damien is handsome, successful, from an excellent family. Most women would be thrilled…”

  

  “Then you marry him!” Miriam shouted. “You’re so eager for this deal? You do it! Oh wait, you already trapped one rich man. I guess that’s enough for you.”

  

  “That’s enough,” Thomas said sharply, but Miriam was beyond caring.

  

  “When did you decide this?” she demanded. “When did you make this arrangement about my life without even asking me?”

  

  The silence that followed was damning. Thomas couldn’t meet her eyes. Margaret’s smile widened.

  

  “You already agreed,” Miriam whispered, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. “You already told him yes. Without talking to me. Without asking what I wanted. You just… sold me.”

  

  “Miriam…”

  

  “How could you?” Her voice broke completely. “How could you do this to me?”

  

  “Take a few days to think about it,” Thomas said, trying that placating tone that used to work when she was a child. “Once you’ve calmed down, you’ll see this is really a good opportunity…”

  

  “I’ll never see that,” Miriam said. “Because it’s not an opportunity. It’s a prison sentence. And you’re the one locking me in.”

  

  She turned and ran from the study, not caring that she could hear Margaret saying something to Thomas behind her, not caring about anything except getting away from them. She took the stairs two at a time, her vision blurred with tears, her chest so tight she could barely breathe.

  

  Her father had sold her. For a business deal. Like she meant nothing. Like twenty-four years of being his daughter counted for less than a partnership with Rhodes International.