Chapter 7: His Condition

Thoughtfulness appeared in Maeve’s eyes.

“Why are you so insistent? I can’t possibly be your only option.”

“You’re not,” Kieran admitted. “But you’re the best I have.”

He would consider the others only if he had no choice. They would make things far more complicated, and time was the one thing he couldn’t afford to waste.

Maeve was surprised by his candor. In negotiations, revealing your bottom line too early was usually considered a bad move. Still, his answer struck her as sincere.

She let out a soft breath and met his gaze.

“My only condition is the one I already gave you. A child,” she said. “I don’t care about remarriage, but I won’t compromise on that.”

He studied her. “Would you consider adopt—”

“No.” She cut him off. “It has to be my biological child. Our child.”

Kieran went still. He lowered his head and remained silent for so long that Maeve began to wonder what was going through his mind.

When he finally looked up, his expression was unchanged, though his voice carried a faint stiffness.

“Then have a child. But you should understand that the child will not be entitled to inherit from the Archer family.”

Maeve frowned, puzzled by his response.

Why did he sound as though he expected her to have a child with another man?

“If I understand correctly,” she said slowly, “you’re fine with me having a child with someone else?”

Now it was Kieran’s turn to look confused.

Isn’t that what you wanted? his expression seemed to ask.

She stared at him in disbelief before pressing a hand to her forehead.

“What part of ’our child’ didn’t you understand? Would you really rather risk me bearing another man’s child, complicating the succession, than father one yourself?”

She gave him a moment to consider the question.

“Aren’t you worried about an outsider benefiting from everything your family has built? Think about it. Once you’re gone, even with everything documented in black and white, I’d have plenty of ways to tilt things in my favor with the power I’d hold. Isn’t that exactly why you specified the no-remarriage and no-children conditions?”

“A child with you is the simpler option. And if you’re worried about your child competing with your nephew’s and niece’s future children for the family fortune, I won’t mind renouncing the child’s inheritance rights in advance.”

Her eyes narrowed as another possibility occurred to her. She glanced down briefly before looking back at his face.

“If that isn’t the problem either... are you simply unable to?”

The question would have offended most men, and Kieran was no exception. He was simply better at concealing his irritation.

After a brief silence, he decided she deserved an explanation. He had intended to tell her after they were officially married, but she had left him little choice.

“I have a genetic heart defect,” he confided. “It can be passed on to my descendants. The risk is real, and it’s not one I’m willing to take.”

He held her gaze.

“So, Maeve, you can’t have my child. I won’t allow it.”

Suddenly, his indifference toward marriage and women in general made sense.

Over the years, people had speculated about why a man like Kieran had never had a girlfriend, let alone a wife. Disinterest in romance was hardly unusual these days, but Kieran was the head of the Archer family, after all.

Even his nephew had been betrothed at a young age, yet Kieran had never so much as been linked to anyone.

Some said he had lost the woman he loved and never recovered. Others whispered about his orientation.

Maeve had heard them all. After five years under the same roof, she had never believed any of them, but neither had she found a convincing explanation for why he stayed single.

In the end, she had simply chalked it up to his being a workaholic.

Now she understood.

His decision to remain unmarried had always been about protecting a child who didn’t even exist. He was unwilling to risk passing on a defect that could shorten that child’s life.

Most people, she suspected, would have clung to the hope that their children might escape the condition. Yet Kieran had given up the possibility of fatherhood altogether rather than take that chance.

She studied his face.

The composure she had always admired now seemed to carry a weight she had never fully understood. Then she remembered how little time he had left, and it felt as though a knife were twisting in her chest.

“Can’t a heart transplant fix it?” she asked softly, though she already suspected the answer. If it were that simple, he wouldn’t be facing death so calmly.

Unexpectedly, Kieran nodded.

“It can.”

For a fleeting moment, hope stirred in her, only to be extinguished almost as quickly by his next words.

“But I have a rare blood type, and finding a suitable donor is extremely difficult.” He paused. “And even a new heart wouldn’t change the genetic defect I carry. The risk to a child would remain.”

Extremely difficult didn’t mean impossible. It meant there was still a chance, however small.

Yet when Maeve looked at him, she couldn’t bring herself to offer empty reassurance. He spoke with the calm of someone who had already accepted his fate, and she couldn’t begin to imagine what it had cost him to reach that point.

She knew she should abandon the idea of having a child with him. It was the logical, responsible thing to do.

Instead, her resolve hardened.

Until now, her insistence had been rooted in practicality. Once he was gone, she could no longer count on him for a sense of security and belonging. Perhaps a family of her own would give her that instead.

Of all the men she knew, Kieran ranked highest in looks, intelligence, and character. If she was going to marry him anyway, a child with a man of his caliber had seemed a sensible choice.

Yet knowing why he had denied himself fatherhood had stirred something in her. She wanted him to have what he’d given up. If it also gave her the child she wanted, so much the better.

But the father had to be him. No other man would do.

She wasn’t ready to examine the source of this sudden, inexplicable thought. For now, she simply needed to convince him there might be another way.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but I still think we could make this work.”

Kieran furrowed his brows, and she hurried on before he could dismiss the idea outright.

“What do you think about IVF? If the genetic cause of your condition can be identified, we could have the embryos tested before implantation. We could consult a specialist and see whether it’s feasible.”