Page 1 of An Inevitable Marriage

Chapter one

Liam

“Whatthefuckdoyou mean?” I seethed.

Color draining from his face, Mr. Welsh, my late mother’s attorney, licked his paper-thin lips and tugged uncomfortably on his tie. He opened his mouth, but instead of talking, he took a few greedy gulps of water.

“Well, you see,” he started after half his glass was drained. “There’s a clause in your mother’s will…If you don’t marry before your next birthday, you’ll lose Nouvelle Femme.”

Yeah, I got that part earlier when he arrived at my office without a meeting and stated he had urgent business to discuss with me. I barely had the chance to say hello before he droppedthatbomb on me.

What I didn’t get was why the hell I hadn’t known about this before.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I dragged my hand through my hair. But since I’d twisted the long strands into a bun, my fingers caught on the tie.

I winced, my sigh from earlier morphing into something angrier. “Is there a reason you’re only telling me thisnowinstead of, I don’t know, five years ago when you happily informed me I had to take over as CEO?”

That hadn’t been as big of a shock as this news was. I’d known, even as a young boy not smart enough to understand my mother’s dying words, that there’d come a time for me to sit at the helm of her company.

I’d expected it. Wanted it. But this...This I didn’t fucking need.

Mr. Welsh’s elderly face displayed a blend of sorrow and distress. Even though a pang of regret stabbed me in the chest for putting it there, I couldn’t bring myself to apologize.

Not when my fury burned down to the bone.

Rationally, I knew none of this was his fault. He was nothing more than a messenger who didn’t deserve my anger. Unfortunately for him, I couldn’t use the rational part of my brain.

I turned my gaze toward the busy city beyond my top-floor office window and squeezed the bridge of my nose.

“I don’t know if you know this,” Mr. Welsh said, his voice quiet and careful. “But your great-grandparents on your mother’s side had an arranged marriage, as did your grandparents, and so did your parents.”

I didn’t answer—because what the hell was I supposed to say? Thankfully, he went on, “I saw your mother the day before she died—”

“Murdered,” I corrected him. “You saw her the day before she was murdered.”

Of course, he said nothing. No one ever did. My fucking grandfather, the bastard he was, made sure of it.

Mr. Welsh cleared his throat. “When she came to me to put all of this in place, she still believed in the goodness of marriage.”

I laughed, the sound harsh and bitter. “What a fucking joke.” There’s no goodness in love and marriage or any of that shit. She, of all people, should have known and understood that.

“Your father might’ve been—”

“Just as toxic as the rest of his family?” I interrupted, glaring at him over my shoulder.

His features softened, and he gave me a pitying look. I didn’t appreciate it. I bloody well didn’t want pity. “Well, yes. But your mother also witnessed the wonderful and beautiful side of two strangers finding love when things seemed hopeless. That might not have been her experience, but it didn’t change her belief in love. The true, everlasting kind.”

His voice dropped a few octaves. “She wanted that for you.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Returning my attention to the city beyond the window, I shook my head. “Why would she do this?”

“I don’t know, but maybe this holds the answers you seek.”

I spun around just in time to see him place a small envelope on my desk. My heart immediately slammed two beats too fast against my ribs. It might have been years since I’d seen it, but I’d never forget my mother’s handwriting.

“Liam, I deeply apologize for delivering this news on your birthday. Your mother was a dear friend to me, and I might not understand or even agree with her reasons for doing things this way, but I promised to uphold her wishes.”

What was I supposed to say? I wanted to honor my mother, too. It was why I hadn’t thought twice about taking over as CEO of Nouvelle Femme a day after my thirtieth birthday. It was why I’d been working my ass off to keep the company relevant.