I stood there, trying to process what I was hearing. There was no inheritance clause. No requirement. Thorne could have had his land without marrying me.
Which meant our entire arrangement was based on a lie.
Which meant I was...what? A defunct bride?
“Maddie,” Kate started. “I can explain—”
“You lied to both of us,” I said quietly.
“I know. And I’m sorry. But look at you two.” She gestured between us. “You’re perfect together. You’re happy. Would you have even given each other a chance without the arrangement?”
“That’s not the point,” Thorne said.
“Then what is the point?”
“The point is you took away our choice.” He was pacing now. “You manipulated both of us into a marriage neither of us would have agreed to otherwise.”
“Says who?” Kate looked at me. “Would you really not have agreed to this if you’d known the truth?”
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
Would I have?
If Kate had said, my brother’s lonely and sad, want to marry him and move to a mountain, would I have said yes?
Probably not.
But now...
Now I was standing here in his shirt, having just spent the night in his bed, feeling things I honestly thought I’d never feel for somebody.
“That’s not fair,” I said.
“Maybe not. But it’s honest.” Kate’s expression softened. “Look, I know I overstepped. Way overstepped. And I’m sorry. I really am. But I also know my brother. And I know he never would have put himself out there otherwise. Never would have let himself be happy.”
“So you decided to play God?” Thorne asked.
“I decided to be a sister who gives a damn.” Kate grabbed her purse. “The marriage is legal. It’s real. What you do with that information is up to you. But I’m not sorry I brought you two together. Even if I did it in the most ethically questionable way possible.”
She headed for the door, then paused. “For what it’s worth? I’ve never seen you this happy, Thorne. Not in years. That has to count for something.”
Then she was gone.
Thorne and I stood in the kitchen, not looking at each other.
“So,” I said finally. “That was a lot.”
“Yeah.”
“She really just... made the whole thing up.”
“Apparently.”
More silence.
“You’re mad,” I said.
“I’m...” He stopped. “I don’t know what I am.”
