NATE
It turned out that sealing your fate in an arranged marriage felt a lot like quiet warfare, even if the parties involved weren’t even part of the battle. I sat at the head of the table beside Alex while two of our family lawyers flipped through the stack of documents in front of them.
My father occupied a square on the large screen at the far end of the room, his expression stern, attentive, and too calm for a conversation that was effectively outlining the rest of my life piece by piece.
“We’ve incorporated Miss Vanderhaul’s additional provisions,” one of the lawyers said, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the pages. “They’re extensive but very clear.”
I turned my gaze to the skyline beyond the glass wall behind them. Kate’s conditions weren’t about money. It looked like she couldn’t care less about trying to negotiate for more of it, regardless of everything she was sacrificing for this arrangement.
Every clause she’d asked to be added simply protected their firm’s involvement in Hinds’ financial management, every line reinforcing her loyalty to her family’s legacy. She hadn’t written a single provision about protecting herself emotionally.
Not that I’d expected she would.
In the meantime, Emma still hadn’t responded to my last message and her silence sat like lead in my chest. I also hadn’t spoken to Kate since she’d handed me that list and, with it, shattered any illusion that this marriage would ever resemble anything real.
Alex tapped the table lightly with his pen, drawing my attention back to the present. “Once the deal closes, we’ll need to begin the process of transitioning Hinds’ financial operations to Chicago. We can?—”
“No,” I said firmly. “Nothing will change in that regard.”
Four sets of eyes snapped toward me. My father’s brows pulled together on-screen. Alex stilled slowly, like a predator sensing a shift in wind direction.
“I’m sorry,” he said carefully. “What do you meannothing will change?”
“I mean Hinds’ operations will remain exactly where they are.”
“That’s not realistic,” Alex said, frowning. “Kate will be relocating here once you’re married. Her firm?—”
“No,” I repeated. “That’s not how it’s going to work.”
He leaned back, looking at me like he was trying to determine whether I was posturing or losing my mind. “Okay. Would you like to tell us how itisgoing to work then?”
I clasped my hands together on the table. “Kate won’t be moving to Chicago. She’ll manage the account from New York as their firm has always done. She’s expressed very clear wishes about this and I won’t fight her on them.”
Deep in my chest, however, I recoiled just at having to say it out loud. Unlike my brothers, I’d always wanted to get married. It was something I’d actually looked forward to. I’d always wanted to be a husband and a dad.
I’d imagined a home filled with noise. A wife who’d chosen me as fiercely as I’d chosen her. Children who would grow up knowing the same kind of love my parents had given to us. Just because I’d known it would be an arranged marriage didn’t change that.
I’d grown up looking at the examples set by my mom and dad. Harlan and CC. Their relationships had made me think I could someday have that too.
Someone I cherished more than anything to grow old beside. Someone to love until it all ended. A partner for life who I’d be with forever.
Emma’s face should’ve been there in that vision. Even if I had no idea what she looked like, it was usually some blurry image of her that popped into my head when I thought about that future.
Instead, Kate’s face flashed across my mind today. Guilt surged through me so hard, it nearly knocked the wind out of me. I would have had that life with Emma. I knew I would. A real marriage. A family.
But here I am, agreeing to marry Kate.
Basically, if I went through with this, I was ensuring that I would never actually have a wife. Never have children. We’d exist like adjacent companies sharing a corporate umbrella—one name but separate operations, living separate lives in separate states.
I forced the thought away before it swallowed me whole. Alex was still watching me, waiting for something. I just didn’t know what.
“That’s it,” I said curtly. “She’s not moving here. End of story. The point is, don’t worry about having to transfer Hinds’ operations.”
He held my gaze for another second before sighing and turning back to the lawyers. The meeting dragged through clause after clause. I reviewed every line, making adjustmentswhere I could. I expanded the standard financial protections even though they were already generous.
The dollar amounts included always provided for structured payouts at milestone anniversaries, significant assets allocated for any children born during the marriage, and long-term security that would follow her regardless of how or when this ended.
Even as I requested and authorized changes to allow for her to get more than the usual sums, I knew it would all be ceremonial. Kate and I would have no children and we wouldn’t share milestones. We definitely wouldn’t be celebrating anniversaries together.
