Chapter 3: An Unexpected Proposal

No longer the girl he fell in love with?

Maeve almost laughed from sheer exasperation.

Of course she was no longer the same.

Could she even afford not to change?

After everything that had happened, was she supposed to remain that sweet, pampered heiress, especially while living under another family's roof?

If her family's bankruptcy had taught her anything, it was how quickly people abandoned those who no longer had anything to offer them.

Curtis spoke of having loved her, but she wasn't so naive that she couldn't tell pity from love. In her eyes, he simply fancied himself her savior and expected her to repay him by falling in love with him and making him the center of her world.

When reality failed to match his imagination, he couldn't accept it. Gradually, he began finding fault with her, and things had only gotten worse since she started working alongside him.

Because she did her job well and had earned Kieran's praise, Curtis had convinced himself she was deliberately trying to overshadow him.

What a joke.

Her value lay precisely in doing her work well. If she failed at that, or foolishly let Curtis dictate how she did it, Kieran wouldn't hesitate to send her away. He had put her at Curtis's side to get results, not to nod along with everything he said.

If a yes-woman was what Kieran wanted, he wouldn't have needed her at all.

Despite the thoughts racing through her mind, Maeve's expression remained unchanged. She didn't bother to defend herself, either.

In a situation like this, the less she said, the better, especially when she still couldn't tell what Kieran intended. His opening question had left her uneasy that he might actually grant Curtis's wish this time, but everything he'd said since had been a reprimand aimed at Curtis.

Perhaps she had nothing to worry about after all.

She watched as Kieran regarded the agitated Curtis with open disappointment.

"Fickle, irresponsible, unrepentant," he said, each word clipped and cold. "There's not a single redeeming quality about you."

Curtis lost all his bravado at once, his face turning white as a sheet. Hearing such a verdict from the patriarch—the man who would ultimately decide who succeeded him—spelled trouble from every angle.

"If you had at least the courage to own up to your shortcomings and admit that you were the one in the wrong, the one whose heart strayed, I might still have respected you a little. But no. Your first thought was to blame others."

Even Lauren could no longer sit still. She looked visibly anxious, but remembering Kieran's earlier warning, she didn't dare interrupt.

"You've been betrothed for years. Over the past two years, I've made it clear that it was time to put marriage on the agenda, and every time you found a way to bluff your way through: you were too young, too busy with work, or needed more time to think about it. I've heard them all."

"I don't care how you choose to live your life, but you will not waste someone else's time along with your own."

"Today, I will make the final decision on your engagement and marriage."

Everyone instinctively held their breath, Maeve included.

She kept her expression steady, though her fingers had tightened around the edge of her dress.

She couldn't help the tension.

The decision would directly shape her future, including whether she would still have a seat at the Archers' table. Many people wouldn't understand why she clung so insistently to the engagement, especially since she had long been capable of standing on her own. But Maeve didn't need them to understand.

It was enough that she did.

Even if the Archers weren't the most welcoming people, they gave her a sense of security.

Or rather...

She looked at Kieran.

He was the one who gave her that sense of security. Every extra day he remained patriarch was another day she could delude herself into believing she had a home, that she wasn't an unwanted orphan after all.

"Henceforth," she heard him say as she snapped back to reality, "the engagement between Curtis and Maeve is officially cancelled."

Maeve's world went deathly silent, her limbs turning cold bit by bit.

The engagement was... cancelled?

So all that scolding had only been a prelude to this?

She almost wanted to imitate Curtis's earlier outburst, slam her fist on the table, and declare that she didn't agree.

But reason stopped her.

On what grounds could she object? She had managed to hold on to the engagement for so long largely because of Kieran. Now that he'd made his decision and wanted it ended, she was in no position to question him.

She had no choice but to accept it, along with the collapse of every plan she had built around it.

In the end, it seemed this home had no place for her after all.

As her thoughts spiraled and her composure neared breaking, she quickly lowered her head.

Even without looking, she could guess how pleased Curtis and his mother must be. Curtis might even decide the scolding had been worth it.

Not only had he finally managed to rid himself of her, but Kieran had no children of his own, making Curtis the family's expected successor. Whatever displeasure he'd incurred today, he had little reason to worry about any change to his position.

Or so he believed...

She refused to let them watch her fall apart.

"Instead—"

Kieran was speaking again, but Maeve had lost all interest in what he might say next. Having already hit rock bottom, she doubted anything he said could make her situation any better or worse.

"She'll be marrying me."

Maeve's head snapped up so quickly that her neck twinged.

Marrying Kieran?

Who was she?

Her?

She looked around and found the same stunned expression on every face: Curtis, Lauren, and even Lily Archer, Curtis's younger sister, who hadn't spoken since the fiasco began. The math prodigy, who wore a perpetually bored expression and considered almost everyone an idiot, now looked utterly flabbergasted.

Maeve couldn't blame her. She was beginning to doubt her own hearing, too.

"...Sorry," she said, her lips curling into a faint, strained smile as she looked at Kieran. "Could you repeat that?"