She stared at the fresh signature. Dated yesterday.
Her body went cold.
Noreen had signed this, her own grandmother, not long after she’d been born.
And Séamus, alive and tucked away in that damn nursing home, had clearly just dusted it off and decided to drop a legal bomb into her life.
A deal. A betrayal. One that reeked of coercion and manipulation. One that would steal everything unless she married Ronan.
Her vision blurred.
Was this what Paddy had tried to warn her of?
Her grandmother had betrothed her. That had been bad enough. But this… This was worse. A legal leash. A threat disguised as a family alliance. A weapon.
And the man in her bed?
He hadn’t said a word.
Rage bloomed, hot and sharp.
The floor creaked behind her.
Ronan, tousled and towel-wrapped, stood at the edge of the hallway, eyes still hazy with sleep. “Hey,” he said softly. “Come back to bed.”
Aisling stood slowly, envelope clenched in her fist.
“Did you know?” she asked, her voice deathly calm.
His brow furrowed. “Know what?”
She threw the pages at him.
He caught them midair, blinking down at the top sheet. His eyes skimmed the words. Then again, slower.
“What the hell is this?”
“You tell me.” Her voice was rising. “Because it looks like a land grab signed by your grandfather. And it was just delivered to me. This morning. By courier.”
His eyes widened, and he ran a hand through his tousled hair.
“I swear to God, I didn’t know anything about this.”
“Oh, that’s convenient,” she snapped. “You didn’t know? Really? What, you thought the betrothal clause was cute and quirky enough, so why not seal the deal in bed and wait for the land to roll in?”
He flinched, and she could see the color drain from his face. “Jesus, Aisling.”
“No, don’t you ‘Jesus’ me. I trusted you. Last night, I let you in. And this morning, I find out that if I don’t marry you, I loseeverythingmy family has owned for generations. It feels like I’ve been deceived. And here I was worried about Declan when you were the real thief.”
He looked stunned. “Aisling, listen to me. I’ve never seen this before. My grandfather, he’s a mean old crazy coot, he’s not even in his right mind. I had no idea he?—”
“Spare me.” Her voice cracked. “God, I’m sostupid. Bríd warned me. Paddy warned me. And I just waltzed right into your arms like the world’s dumbest heroine in a badly written romance.”
“Stop.” He stepped forward.
She stepped back.
“I don’t want your pity. I don’t want your lies. And I definitely don’t want your land deal dressed up as affection.”
