Page 44 of Secret Dynasty

“What are you doing here?” I asked, instantly losing my composure.

“Gentlemen, may I introduce my lovely fiancée Kerrigan Belmond.”

I forced a polite hello and turned an expectant look on Spencer. He wasn’t going to use etiquette to avoid my question.

“Your father is here to finalize the financial aspects of the prenuptial agreement,” Spencer explained.

“Is that necessary?” I accepted a seat from one of the partners, crossing my legs as he laid a contract in front of me.

“This marriage is as much a financial union as a romantic one.”

If that was true, we wouldn’t be here at all. I kept the thought to myself as I began to read the prenuptial agreement. By the end of the first page, my stomach was churning. By the second, I might vomit. When I reached the clause outlining the delivery of heirs, I pushed it away entirely.

I blinked as tears pricked my eyes, determined not to let any fall. “You want me to sign this?”

“That’s the point,” Spencer said coolly. “Is there a problem?”

“Where do I begin?” But I’d expected as much from Spencer. Part of me thought this would be about protecting his familial assets and family name. How naive. This was about getting his hooks into the Belmond bank account forever. I turned to look at Tod. “Did you read this?”

I understood why Tod had made this arrangement years ago, even if I disagreed with his decision. But even though he felt like a stranger to me, he saw his daughter sitting at this table now.

“You have to understand—”

“If party B—that’s me, by the way—fails to conceive within fourteen months, both parties agree to initialize fertility treatments immediately.” My voice cracked as I read the contract language. “Should I go over the timeline of my pregnancies? You’re going to have a lot of grandchildren to look after.”

“Children are part of a happy marriage,” Spencer said in a firm voice.

“Is that so?” I raised an eyebrow. “What about full access to my trust fund and all future inheritance, guaranteed by my father? Is that a necessary ingredient, too? Are you sure you don’t want him to throw in a few chickens and a goat?”

There was no way out of the contract. Even if we divorced, he would retain a significant portion of my assets.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Spencer said.

“Party B will cease the usage of all contraception following the legal declaration of their marriage,” I read to him before I tossed the contract on the table. “What about my demands?”

“Kerrigan,” Tod said carefully, but I ignored him. Maybe he was doing this to protect me, but he had no idea what was truly at stake.

“You have demands?” Spencer said, steepling his fingers.

“I do.” I stared at him across the table.

“Gentlemen, can I have a minute with my wife?”

“Future wife,” I corrected him. “We haven’t said I do yet.”

And I hadn’t signed his bloody contract either.

The others stood and poured out of the room. Tod paused beside me. “Maybe I should stay.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I’d never been more keenly aware that I was in the presence of my father—even a father who felt like a stranger to me—than right now.

“If that’s what you want…”

I nodded. He left the room with a sigh and closed the door behind him.

“You’re upset,” Spencer noted.