It hit me like a punch to the sternum.
“Why Vivian?” I rasped.
Henry’s jaw tightened.
“Because she was your father’s wife at the time, he trusted her, and because he never imagined she’d become what she became after the accident. I don’t imagine he thought she’d manipulate his medication and cause his death while his only son was in a coma, either.”
The rain pounded harder against the roof of the hunting lodge.
“He couldn’t have known she’d try to pull the plug on you when you were in that coma,” Henry added, his voice colder. “He never believed she’d run the second the board pushed her out, and he had no idea she’d leave the whole goddamn country before his body was even cold.”
A deep ache pulsed beneath the scars on my cheek.
“This clause is going to make my life a living hell, not to mention the life of whoever ends up shackled to me.”
“This isn’t your father punishing you,” Henry said. “This is your father loving the hell out of you… and having no idea how much you were going to lose. Once she started fucking with his medications, he wasn’t thinking clearly anymore, but he never lost his love for you, or his desire to see you step up and become the Stonewood heir you were always meant to be.”
I closed the folder, trying to hide how hard my hands were shaking.
“And if I don’t get married before Christmas Eve,” I said, “my stepmother — who we’re pretty goddamn sure killed my father, even if no one can prove it — gets everything that should rightfully be mine.”
Henry gave a grim nod.
“Every building, every acre, every account, every future Stonewood investment, plus Ashgrove House, the hunting lodge… all of it.”
A hollow laugh scraped out of my chest.
“Jesus H. Christ. We’re so fucked.”
Henry stepped closer.
“Ben, listen to me.”
I looked up and arched a brow at him.
“You are out of time.”
The words landed like a hammer blow to my chest.
“I know?—”
“And the only option you have left,” Henry interrupted, his voice firm but not unkind, “is the one we planned four years ago, right after you met Chrissy. We have to enact The Game… the bride selection, the tests, the decoys... all of it.” He paused for a long moment. “And, if you want her as badly as I think you do, then you need to find a way to bring the girl into it.”
My heart stuttered at the thought of the one girl who’d touched me without flinching after my accident, the one girl who’d treated me like a human being instead of a boogeyman or a piece of local lore.
I’d spent the past four years watching her from a safe distance because getting close might break me in ways my accident never could.
Chrissy Jones.
Henry nodded toward the folder.
“You have a deadline, Benjamin, and you have a woman you want more than anything. You just need a way to bring her to you.”
My heart hammered, equal parts dread and desperate hope, but I nodded.
Henry finished softly, “It’s time to set the Game in motion.”
I didn’t breathe for a long moment. Then, I closed the file with a final, decisive snap.
