All Chapters of Tying The Knot With My Ex-Fiance's Dying Uncle: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Maeve froze, a crack appearing in her composure.Why did Kieran sound as though he was actually considering Curtis's request?Whenever Curtis threw a tantrum, Kieran would either ignore him, scold him back to his senses, or bury him in enough work to make the idea die on its own. He had never once asked Curtis whether he truly wanted to end the engagement.Curtis clearly sensed the change, too.His face lit up, and he nodded eagerly. "Yes, Uncle. I want nothing more."Beneath the table, Maeve curled her right hand into a fist. Unease settled in her chest as she watched Kieran.The room fell silent.All eyes turned to Kieran, who had lowered his head as though weighing the matter. Maeve searched his face for a clue, but a man like him rarely gave anything away.Then he began tapping his fingers against the table.The tension in the room thickened. Everyone knew that habit. Kieran only did it when considering something important, and no one dared interrupt him.A minute later, the tapp

Seeing the stunned look on Maeve's face, Kieran felt a flicker of amusement. In the five years since she had come to the Archer residence, this was the first time he had seen her so thoroughly at a loss. He wasn't fond of repeating himself, but given the circumstances, he was willing to make an exception. "You'll be marrying me," he said calmly. "Do you have any objections?" This time, everyone heard him correctly. Yet somehow, his words still made no sense. The pleased smiles on Lauren's and Curtis's faces vanished. Lauren was the first to find her voice, her gentle mask beginning to crack. "Kieran, surely you haven't thought this through. Maeve is Curtis's fiancée..." She faltered, realizing she could no longer call Maeve that. "...Was, until a few minutes ago," she corrected. "But no matter what, the fact remains that she held that position for years. How can she suddenly go from being his fiancée to becoming his aunt?" Her voice grew more urgent. "People will

“I refuse.”Maeve had weighed the offer, and her answer was no.Dedicating the rest of her life to a family business that would never truly be hers, for people who might never appreciate her and could even come to resent her, was too steep a price, no matter how she looked at it.Kieran didn’t seem surprised.“Are you rejecting the proposal as a whole, or only the conditions?” he asked.“All of it.” She met his gaze without hesitation. “I’ll admit it’s tempting, but it isn’t what I want.”“I thought you wanted to belong here. To become a true member of the family.”Maeve studied him. Over the course of their conversation, she had caught glimpses of the man behind his cold, unperturbed exterior.He wasn’t as untouchable as he appeared. He had burdens of his own, problems that money and authority couldn’t solve.Somehow, that made him easier to face.She leaned forward until they were close enough to feel each other’s breath. Kieran seemed taken aback, but he didn’t pull away.Her lips

He didn’t answer. He simply stared at her, his gaze dark and unreadable.Maeve grew nervous under his scrutiny and laughed awkwardly. “I’m acting strange, aren’t I? Being so insistent. I don’t mean anything by it, I just...”“You pity me,” he said, cutting her off.It was a statement, not a question.Her first instinct was to deny it. Pity seemed an inadequate word for what she felt, especially when Kieran, ill or not, was hardly someone she considered weak.Even so, she hesitated. Among the tangled feelings in her heart, could she really be sure there was no pity?She sighed, met his gaze, and answered honestly.“I don’t know. I can’t tell what I’m feeling right now, whether it’s pity, sympathy, or something more. But I do know I want to do this for you. Or rather, with you.”Kieran found her increasingly difficult to understand.For a moment, he had wondered whether her insistence on having his child was an attempt to secure a claim to the Archer inheritance. Yet if that were her on

“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 pr