Chapter 10: Bluff

“You’re worried that if I marry Kieran, you’ll have even less chance of inheriting the Archer Group.”

Maeve watched him closely as she spoke, catching the flash of panic in his eyes.

That confirmed her suspicion.

“More precisely, you’re afraid I’ll have a child with Kieran. A child who could threaten your position.” Her tone sharpened. “Between his own child and an incompetent heir like you, there’d be no contest, especially when his dissatisfaction with you has only grown over the years.”

She tilted her head, studying his expression. “Did I get that right?”

She didn’t wait for an answer.

“You assumed that no matter how little he thought of you, Lily had no interest in the company, which left you as his only male heir and, in your mind, his inevitable successor. That’s why you didn’t hesitate to break off our engagement, even knowing it would displease him. You were so confident in your position that you never considered the possibility of losing it.”

“Then he granted your wish and proposed to me instead.” Her lips curved into a mocking smile. “Suddenly, you panicked because you realized that if I married him, everything you’ve taken for granted could come crashing down. Your position, your status, the respect and flattery people shower you with. How much of that would you still have without the promise of inheriting the company?”

She paused, allowing the question to sink in before delivering the final blow.

“You’d be nothing.”

Curtis’s face flushed, then drained of color as he struggled to contain his anger.

Watching him, Maeve felt a surge of satisfaction.

After years of enduring his and his mother’s treatment, she’d finally managed to release some of the resentment she’d kept bottled up inside.

It was a small victory, but a gratifying one.

She wasn’t surprised that Curtis had failed to consider anything beyond the threat of a potential child. He had no idea that, whether or not she ever had one with Kieran, his position as heir was already in jeopardy.

Maeve could hardly wait to see his expression when he finally realized that Kieran no longer intended to leave the Archer Group in his hands.

That would be a sight worth savoring.

While she was lost in the thought, Curtis gradually regained his composure.

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” he said darkly. “It’s debatable whether he’ll live long enough to have a child with you.”

Maeve’s heart skipped a beat.

What did he mean by that?

Kieran had told her that his family knew about his heart condition but had no idea how little time he might have left.

Could the truth have leaked without his knowledge?

She decided to test Curtis’s reaction before drawing any conclusions.

“Oh?” She feigned indifference. “Are you talking about his heart condition? From what he told me, it’s nothing serious. As long as he follows his doctor’s instructions and goes for regular checkups, he’ll be fine.”

She gave a dismissive scoff. “What? Do you know more about his health than he and his doctor do?”

Then she waited, holding her breath for his response.

Curtis stared at her in surprise. “He already told you?”

Maeve immediately relaxed. His reaction confirmed that he’d been bluffing. Otherwise, he would have seized the opportunity to sneer at her and put her down.

“Oops.” She covered her mouth and cast him a sidelong glance. “Sounds like it was a family secret.“

Then, with deliberate coyness, she smiled and shrugged. “But I’ll be marrying him soon, so I suppose I’m already family.”

Curtis clenched his fists, then slowly released them. Watching Maeve behave as though she were enjoying every second of his discomfort, he found himself regretting his decision a little.

If he hadn’t rashly insisted on breaking off their engagement, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. Kieran would never have considered marrying Maeve to honor the original agreement, and Curtis would have remained the undisputed heir to the Archer Group.

He loved Jenna, certainly, but that love wasn’t worth sacrificing everything he’d spent his life working toward.

His gaze drifted back to Maeve.

An idea began to take shape in his mind.

Maeve noticed the change in his expression almost immediately. Whatever he was thinking, it certainly wasn’t anything good. Still, she was curious to see what sort of scheme that hopelessly inept brain of his could come up with.

“Mae, actually...”

Her face twisted in disgust. “Call me by my full name, thank you.”

“All right.”

His unexpected compliance caught her off guard. Then he smiled.

A shiver of unease crawled up her spine. She instinctively took a step back, eyeing him with suspicion.

First, he’d called her by a nickname he hadn’t used in five years. Now he was smiling at her as though they were on friendly terms.

What was he up to?

Curtis cursed inwardly at the wary look she gave him. For a moment, he nearly abandoned the idea altogether. But the thought of everything he stood to lose kept him from backing down.

“Actually,” he began, fixing his eyes on hers with what he believed was tender sincerity, “I never meant to break off our engagement.”

Maeve stared at him, unimpressed.

Curtis clenched his jaw in annoyance, but he pressed on.

“It’s the same reason I started dating Jenna. All of it was to make you jealous.”

An embarrassed look crossed his face.

“I’ve always liked you, and I wanted us to be more than friends. But you always acted oblivious. Even after you moved in with us, nothing changed.” His voice tightened, as though he were gritting his teeth. “In fact, you became even more distant.”

Maeve glanced up instinctively at his tone, and what she saw startled her.

He looked genuinely dejected. Heartbroken, even.

She knew Curtis well enough to recognize the limits of his acting. He couldn’t fake this.

That meant...

She lowered her head.

He had genuinely been hurt by her distance back then.

She’d always taken his sulking for entitlement, for the pride of someone who believed she should worship him forever for pleading to take her in.

Perhaps some of it had been exactly that, but maybe not entirely.

Not that she could have acted differently.

She’d been living under someone else’s roof, forced to read people’s expressions before she even dared reach for food. It hadn’t taken long for her to realize that Lauren didn’t want her anywhere near her son.

With nowhere else to go, Maeve had been terrified of being thrown out, so she’d kept her distance as carefully as she could.

By the time she’d settled into the family and tried to mend their relationship, it was already too late.

Curtis had come to despise her.