“You’re taking away my inheritance?”
“Darling, we aren’t taking it. Not yet, anyway,” Mother said. “We want you to make the right decision about your future.”
I scrunched my eyes closed and rubbed between my brows. “You literally just said you would change the terms if I continued to disregard your wishes.”
“Ifyou continue to date that classless woman,” Mother snipped. “The terms will remain untouched otherwise.”
“Am I not a part of this family?”
“Darling—”
“Have I not dedicated my career to growing the wealth of this family? Am I not a Dorset? Am I not your son?” I cut Mother off. There was no use arguing any other point as it was already set in their eyes.
“You are,” Father barked. “Act like it.” He stared me down with my same blue eyes. “Your mother has gone through a lot of trouble seeking out every eligible woman for years. And this is how you thank her? I think not.” Father slapped his linen napkin to the table. “You have the pick of the town. You’re a Dorset, for Christ’s sake. Anyone would bend over backward to marry into this family.”
I jolted with a disbelieving shake of my head. “And you don’t think that’s an issue? That they want to marry this family and not me?”
Mother laughed a gentle trill of sound. “Really, Luke. And you think that base-born woman isn’t doing the same? She sees dollar signs when she looks at you, not your handsome face. Someone like Georgina, who has an inheritance of her own, has no reason to marry other than for you.”
They were wrong. They knew nothing. Asher was much more comfortable without my wealth. If anything, the very prestige they lauded was a deterrent, not an accelerant.
“Don’t talk about—Ashley that way.”
Mother’s smile froze. “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t love her, do you?”
I didn’t respond, and not because I didn’t know. I did know. I had known. But I’d be damned if they would be the people I told before I told Asher himself.
“This squabble is pointless,” Father said.
“You mean this squabble is my future,” I muttered.
“You continue on with Ashley Brandt, and I meet with the attorney to change the conditions of my will. It’s as simple as that.”
His will. The family money, the trust, the investments, the real estate, he would take it all if I stayed with Asher. No, Ashley. God, they didn’t know the full truth, and if they did, they wouldn’t stop there. I would no doubt be stricken from this family entirely. Removed from all records.
“That money is from our family,” I said, trying to muddle through my thoughts when all I could seem to concentrate on was Asher’s smile. “It started with your grandparents.”
“It is a mark of this family, a privilege, a birthright I will not have you spend on someone who will not benefit us Dorsets.”
“I’ve made this family more money than I’ve ever spent.”
Father leaned forward. “Then keep it. Use what you’ve earned.”
“And get rid of that woman,” Mother added.
And I’d toyed with telling them about myself, about Asher. I’d known it would be bad. I’d known they would most likely never want to see me again, that they’d take it all, but the confirmation was more shocking than the idea of it. My inheritance, the firm, all of it was mine as long as I toed the line, acted the part, and didn’t embarrass this family.
Why had I ever thought there could be another way?
Hope?
No. Stupidity.
Numbers ran behind my eyes, a quick calculation of my share of the Dorset fortune. It sat in the multimillions, the eight-figure range.
Would I give that up for Asher?
Could I walk away from the life I’d always known and mostly taken for granted?
