Chapter 7
Penelope
Xander was uncharacteristically quiet for the first thirty minutes of the drive. I’d seen the man strike up a conversation
about literally anything, birding, boat racing, international trade deals, the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies.
Extremely adept at small talk, yet he was silent.
With the city behind us, the Aston Martin’s engine hummed smoothly along the Long Island Expressway. That and the occasional
sound of the gearshift filled the intimate space inside the car.
“Why did you call me Poppy ?” I ventured into the silence.
Why, of all the random pet names he could have chosen, did he choose that one? Why did he bring up the poppies?
His eyes scanned the road and flickered to me momentarily.
“I dunno,” he answered, the shadows in the divots outlining his biceps flexed as he upshifted. The engine roared as the car
picked up speed on the nearly open stretch of highway. “It’s a nickname for Penelope, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” I twisted the ring again. “I never liked ‘Penny.’?”
“Neither did I,” he mumbled and glanced over to me again. His voice lifted to a less serious one. “Try not to rip off your
finger.”
“Oh.” I looked down and hadn’t realized how hard I was pulling at my hand to get the ring off; it was red and scratched along the side. I stacked my hands neatly on my lap.
It went quiet again for another few minutes before he spoke up. “What’s the endgame here?”
“I just need time.” I repeated the sentiment from the kitchen.
I didn’t talk much to anyone about the circumstances around my inheritance because I often became overwhelmed in trying to
figure out what I wanted. Mix in the ticking clock, and it was a lot to think about.
“Time for what?” His question was delivered in the tone I was accustomed to. Sweet and reassuring. The one that enchanted
every woman in Manhattan.
When I got back from my London assignment with Sloan last summer, I told them, the whole group, about my arranged marriage.
That it was always something I knew would come up. I also told them it wasn’t really something I wanted to litigate so they
respected my wishes.
Up until the night of the Amari Masquerade when Maddox showed up, unexpectedly, only hours after I was informed that my mother’s
financial well-being rested on my shoulders.
“I want the fairy tale,” I told him. After a childhood that taught me those didn’t exist, the last couple of years here provided
evidence that they might. I began to reconsider my options and I convinced my family to postpone awhile. “If I have to settle
on marrying a frog for a while to eventually have it, I will.”
I wasn’t like Xander. I didn’t want to have strings of amicable affairs but keep my heart to myself.
I wanted the real thing. The real fairy tale.
I didn’t recognize all the concessions I’d made until I saw the real thing unfold before me when Sloan and Marcus fell in
love. Or when Henry and Selena dropped their respective emotional walls for each other.
After all that, quiet resignation to my fate felt insulting. It became harder to convince myself it would be fine. Seeing Maddox again today affirmed all of that for me.
“And that fairy tale is your inheritance?” Xander asked, not judgmentally, but curiously.
“The fairy tale is me controlling my own future, and having the means to protect the people I love.” I looked out the window.
“I want to find love, eventually. For now, I just need a husband to satisfy the terms of my inheritance, and then we can part
our own ways when it’s done.”
“If Maddox isn’t the fairy tale”—he shifted gears, the engine rumbling in a smooth, mechanical hum—“Then, why not have him
be the frog?”
I’d considered asking Maddox to entertain an arrangement to get my inheritance, but I wasn’t sure he’d actually go through
with the divorce when the time came. Divorce was an albatross and the Xu family—exceedingly traditional—wouldn’t allow it.
“Maddox was... I don’t know,” I failed to explain. All I knew was that I wanted a chance at my own story. “I wouldn’t be
happy with him.”
“That’s not what you said at the masquerade.” His even tone was soothing, calm. But I did feel like I was at the firm acting
as a target for Maya as she prepared to litigate in court.
“You remember that?” I mumbled to myself, ignoring the way my stomach churned.
His head swiveled to me, giving me an unamused look before swiveling back to the road. “I was cursed with a good memory.”
“A lady is allowed to change her mind.” I turned the ring slowly around my finger, pulling it forward just as it loosened.
It stopped abruptly at my knuckle.
“Fair enough.” His brows furrowed, but he kept his eyes fixed on the road. “What happens to the Xu Enterprises/Chen Tech merger when your family finds out your husband’s not Maddox?”
My eyes widened. The merger was news, but not international news.
“How did you know?” My heart danced in a probably unhealthy rhythm.
“You’ve met Rohan, right? Tall, serious, knows about anything and everything that might affect the markets.” A smile crept
past his poorly constructed seriousness. “Two competing technology companies merging would do that.”
Right. My shoulders fell, arrhythmia averted.
He knew about it because of the markets, obviously.
“I don’t know what happens with the merger or my family. Xu Enterprises will still get Chen Tech’s market share for their
eventual line of extended life handheld gaming devices.” I waved my hand casually. I didn’t know much outside that in terms
of the actual merger. The marriage was for prestige, but the merger probably had other benefits to the Xus.
Xander’s brow furrowed, mouth hung open just slightly, but he didn’t say anything, so I went on. “But I think they assumed
I’d eventually fall in line.”
Silas, my half brother, had taken over as CEO five years ago. When my little sister, Arabella, was married, that sealed a
joint venture with the Lau family. Silas was credited even though it was Arabella’s wedding that made it happen. He wouldn’t
be happy that I was putting another victory in jeopardy for him.
“You realize Maddox thinks you’re marrying me...”
I trusted Maddox not to make things worse. He would be motivated by self-preservation, because these weren’t great optics
for him. “He won’t say anything before I do, at least not publicly.”
He nodded and the car became quiet for an extended beat.
“So, you’re going to drag the frog around while you look for Prince Charming?” he mused.
“I’m not looking for Prince Charming. Just, I don’t know... I want something real .” I shrugged. “For now, all I need is a marriage on paper. Outside of that, I don’t care what the frog does or where he does
it.”
I didn’t like asking for help, not because I was proud, but I hated putting myself in a position to be in need, to trust someone
or, worse, open myself up to rejection. I had a lifetime of feeling rejected from my family, who could never be trusted with
my best interests—only their own. Whatever this arrangement was and with whomever it was with, I wanted it to be as simple
and straightforward as possible.
He nodded and became quiet again.
It was odd seeing him serious. I’d witnessed it a few times for Dawn Capital–related items but never like this.
“No snarky remark?” I teased in the silence.
“Nope.” He smiled. It always seemed to lift the heaviness in a situation, if only momentarily.