Chapter 9: Persuasion

Instead of getting angry, Maeve laughed.

“If we really have to discuss who has no shame, wouldn’t it be you, who publicly cheated while we were still engaged? And let’s not forget how many times I’ve cleaned up your messes at work while you took the credit.”

She tilted her head, regarding him as though he were a joke.

“You’re the last person who gets to lecture me about shame.”

“Maeve!” Curtis roared, his face flushing with anger and embarrassment.

She stuck a finger in her ear and rubbed it gently.

“Tone it down. My hearing is perfectly fine. Anyone who didn’t know better would think a wild beast had broken loose.”

“Don’t go too far,” he warned, his face twisting with anger.

Maeve lowered her hand, her expression turning cold.

“You’re the one going too far. You’re the one who cheated, who went out of your way to break off our engagement, and who still had the nerve to come here and stop me from considering a better alternative.”

Her voice sharpened.

“Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do?”

His expression stiffened, but he refused to back down.

“If it weren’t for me, do you think you’d have stepped into this house after what happened to your family?”

Here we go again.

Maeve didn’t even have the energy to roll her eyes. She was tired of having that old debt thrown in her face every time they fought, which was practically every few days. Just thinking about it drained what little fight she had left until she no longer wanted to exchange another word with him.

“Yeah. You’re the best,” she said agreeably. “No one else could possibly compare.”

She tried again to step around him and enter her room, but once more, he blocked her way.

That was the last straw.

Fury surged through her, hot and blinding. She shoved him with both hands.

“What do you want, Curtis?” Her voice dropped to a dangerously low, clipped tone. “All these years, haven’t I repaid your ‘favor’ enough? Must I crawl, kneel, and beg before you’ll stop bringing it up every other week?”

Five years, and he still lorded it over her as though he’d saved the world. Whatever gratitude she’d once felt had long since worn away. Worse, he’d also enlisted his mother and friends to remind her of the debt at every opportunity.

It was pure torture.

The fact that she hadn’t thrown something at any of them was a testament to her remarkable self-control.

Seeing how furious she was, Curtis looked slightly awkward and took a step back. Even so, he had no intention of letting her go.

“I’m not trying to pick a fight,” he said, his voice softening. “Whatever our differences, I haven’t forgotten that I promised your father I’d look after you.”

Maeve sneered inwardly.

What a convenient time to remember that. Where was that promise all these years?

Still, she held her tongue. She wanted to hear where he was going with this.

“It’s because of that promise that I can’t stand by and watch you rush into marrying my uncle without thinking it through. Forget everything else. Just look at how much older he is.”

Maeve stared at him as though he were an idiot.

“He’s thirty-five. Ten years older than us.”

Yet Curtis spoke as though Kieran were already well into his twilight years. Maeve could see what he was trying to do: undermine Kieran until she gave up on the marriage.

Curtis faltered, but he wasn’t ready to surrender.

“He’s never had a girlfriend, never married. Don’t you find that strange?”

“Not really.” Maeve blinked, her expression the picture of honesty, giving nothing away about what she knew. “Plenty of people aren’t interested in romance these days, let alone marriage. What’s strange about that?”

Curtis stared at her, momentarily speechless.

After so many setbacks, Maeve had expected him to realize his tricks weren’t working and finally give up. Instead, he stood his ground.

Clearly, he still had another card to play.

Sure enough, hesitation crossed his face. He seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before finally making up his mind. When he looked at her again, there was a strange, unsettling glint in his eyes.

“It’s because he’s... gay!” he announced, lowering his voice deliberately.

What?

Maeve stared at him in disbelief.

Had he really just said that? Or was something wrong with her hearing?

Mistaking her incredulity for belief, Curtis grew bolder.

“Yes, you heard me right. My uncle is gay. That’s why he’s always been indifferent to women.”

He watched her expectantly, convinced that this would finally be enough to make her abandon the idea.

The answer came in the form of a resounding slap.

Curtis hadn’t seen it coming. For a moment, he stood there stunned, only coming back to himself when the sting spread across his cheek.

“How dare you hit me, Maeve?” he demanded, instinctively raising his hand.

Maeve didn’t flinch. Instead, she regarded him with open ridicule.

“When you dared to lie through your teeth, you should have expected this. Go on, hit me back. And while you’re at it, think about how you’ll explain to Kieran why you struck his future wife. Let’s see if you can repeat those lies to his face.”

Curtis lowered his hand at once. Guilt flashed across his expression, and he turned his face away evasively.

Maeve sneered.

What a spineless coward. He has the nerve to spread lies but not the courage to stand by them.

“Forget it if you don’t believe me,” he muttered defensively. “You’ll have only yourself to blame later.”

He turned to leave.

But Maeve wasn’t about to let him walk away so easily.

“If you walk away,” she called after him, her voice dripping with malice, “I’ll go straight to Kieran and tell him what you said.”

Curtis stopped mid-step. He froze for a moment before slowly turning back to face her.

“What do you want?”

“Isn’t that the question I should be asking you?” Maeve stepped forward, her eyes cold. “What exactly do you stand to gain from spreading such lies about your uncle?”

A hurt expression crossed his face. “Is it really so hard to believe I’m looking out for you?”

Maeve let out a disbelieving laugh. “You? Looking out for me? That’s rich.”

She studied him for a moment, then tilted her head.

“Let me guess—”