Chapter 1: The Scorned Fianceé

"I've found someone I love."

The announcement rang out across the dinner table, shattering the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.

Every head turned toward Curtis. He faltered under their scrutiny for a moment before lifting his chin defiantly and glancing at the woman beside him.

"I can't marry her. I want this engagement cancelled."

The atmosphere grew tense. Somewhere around the table, a glass clinked softly against a plate before silence settled again.

One by one, gazes shifted from Curtis to the woman at his side.

His fiancée, Maeve Quinn.

Maeve's fork paused midway to her mouth. A moment later, she resumed eating as though Curtis hadn't said anything at all.

She finished chewing, swallowed, and set down her fork before finally looking at him.

"Is it Jenna Wallace? The heiress of Wallace Media?"

Curtis frowned and shot her a dirty look. "You really do keep tabs on everything, don't you?"

He made it sound as though she spent her days stalking him. In reality, he and Jenna flaunted their affection wherever they went, and their relationship had long since ceased to be a secret. Plenty of people had laughed at Maeve, both to her face and behind her back, because of it.

These days, hardly anyone took her seriously as Curtis's wife-to-be.

Maeve couldn't care less what they thought. The only thing that mattered to her was keeping the engagement intact.

It was her lifeline. Without it, she might not even have a place at this table.

Let them call her scheming, opportunistic, greedy, shallow, or whatever else they pleased. Their opinions meant nothing to her.

She would do whatever it took to secure a stable future for herself. She knew all too well what it was like to have nothing to fall back on.

Five years ago, her family went bankrupt, leaving her an orphan. Overnight, the pampered heiress became someone people avoided. The Archers were the only ones who took her in, honoring the engagement agreement between their families.

Since then, becoming Curtis's wife and securing her place among the Archers had been her long-term goal.

She had no intention of letting anyone stand in her way, not even Curtis himself.

"If you want to date, fall in love, or play around, then by all means, do as you please." Maeve turned to him with a faint smile, her voice as calm as ever. "I won't interfere. But cancelling the engagement is where I draw the line. I won't allow it."

Anger and disgust twisted Curtis's face.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you talk as though you're already the lady of this house?" he asked through gritted teeth. "And don't think I don't know what you're after. You don't love me. You don't care about me at all. All you want is this engagement and the comfortable life that comes with it. I'm just the package it comes wrapped in."

His gaze swept over her with open contempt.

"And what do you mean, you won't allow it? Aren't you taking yourself a little too seriously? Since when has this been your decision to make?"

"It was never going to be yours either," Maeve replied.

Her smile remained in place as she watched his expression sour. She knew exactly which nerve to strike.

A moment later, they both turned toward the head of the table.

There sat the real decision-maker of the family: Kieran Archer.

Curtis's uncle. Half-uncle, technically, if such a thing existed.

Though Curtis called him that, the man wasn't much older than his nephew. He was thirty-five, ten years older than both Curtis and Maeve.

With icy blue eyes and sculpted features, he could have passed for a statue of some Greek god. Yet his commanding presence, forged by authority held since a young age, more often than not made people forget how young he was

Five years ago, he had been the one to make the final decision to honor the agreement between their families and take Maeve into his household. At the time, she hadn't understood why he'd bothered.

To a seasoned businessman, a debt-ridden orphan was hardly worth a second glance. Yet Kieran had not only given her a home but also settled her family's debts.

For a while, Maeve had assumed he was simply protecting the Archers' reputation. Keeping an old promise would earn them praise for their integrity, after all.

She had since learned there was more to it.

Kieran had recognized her potential when others saw only a fallen heiress. He had brought her into the family to become a capable assistant to his nephew, the family's future successor.

Her circumstances made her an ideal choice.

With nowhere else to go and no one to turn to, she would depend on the Archers for a home and give them her loyalty in return.

In short, she was easy to control.

Sometimes, she almost found it amusing. The very circumstances that made others see her as a liability had made her valuable to Kieran.

Yet Maeve had never resented him for it.

Kieran had never explained his intentions outright, but neither had he tried to conceal them. He could have allowed her to mistake his calculation for pure generosity, making her all the more blindly grateful. Instead, he had let her see the arrangement for what it was.

That honesty had earned him her admiration and respect.

More than anything, she wanted to prove that choosing her had been the right decision. She intended to fulfill the role he had entrusted to her and never give him cause to regret it.

So Curtis could throw as many tantrums as he liked. Whether the engagement stayed or ended wasn't his decision to make.

Not yet.

At the head of the table, Kieran had watched the entire exchange in silence. Now, as he met two pairs of eyes, one burning with indignation and the other perfectly calm, he sighed inwardly.

Curtis was becoming more disappointing by the day.

Kieran had spent years grooming his nephew to inherit the business, arranging opportunities and placing capable people around him.

Yet Curtis took it all for granted.

Worse, he resented Maeve, the very person who had repeatedly stepped in whenever he fell short. Rather than recognize her contributions, he treated her competence as an affront to his fragile pride.

How could Kieran entrust the company to someone who couldn't appreciate what had been done for him?

If that was the case...

Perhaps it was time to reconsider his options.

He exhaled slowly and turned to his nephew.

"Are you absolutely certain you want to cancel this engagement?"