Free Web NovelChapter 52: Chapter 52 The Audacity
_Author’s POV_
Kaelen arrived at the Ashthorne estate that afternoon.
He came alone, which was either confidence or the understanding that bringing people would make the purpose of the visit harder to frame as something reasonable.
He drove himself, no pack escort, ad no second.
The security guard called up to the house.
Rowena was in the study with Celeste and two of the lawyers when Velvet knocked and came in and said the name.
The room went briefly quiet.
Celeste looked at Rowena.
Rowena looked at the document she had been reviewing. She set it down, aligned it with the edge of the desk, and said: “Show him into the east sitting room. Tell him I’ll be there in five minutes.”
It took seven minutes, because she finished reading the page she was on before she went downstairs, and because seven minutes was a more accurate reflection of his priority than five.
Kaelen was standing when she came in. He had not sat, which meant he had either been too restless to sit or had decided standing was a better position for whatever he had come to say. He turned when she entered and looked at her.
She sat down across from the empty chair and waited.
He sat.
“You look well,” he said.
“Thank you,” she nodded. “What can I do for you, Kaelen?”
He looked at his hands briefly. Then at her. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “About everything that happened. About how things were handled and what was lost.” He paused. “I think there’s a way to resolve this that works for everyone.”
Rowena waited.
“Come back,” he shamelessly blurted out.
The east sitting room was very quiet.
“Come back to the Varkos estate,” he continued. “As my principal wife. First position, full authority over the household, the Luna’s title formally reinstated.” He kept his eyes on her. “Whatever Virella’s standing is, that gets restructured. You would be first. Unambiguously.”
Rowena looked at him.
She thought about the morning she had put on her mother’s pearl earrings. About standing outside the east wing door listening to a stranger’s voice say she doesn’t get a say in this. About three years of accounts and medications and vendor contracts and the specific loneliness of managing a household for a man who was not there.
“No,” she replied calmly.
Kaelen blinked. “Rowena....”
“No,” she said again. Still pleasant. Still completely level. “Kaelen, I am a Marchioness. That title was granted by the Alpha King and it is formally registered with the King’s office. I have the right to the Ashthorne name, the Ashthorne holdings, and the right to choose a mate on my own terms.” She tilted her head slightly. “What you’re offering me is a demotion.”
“A demotion....” He stopped in shock. “You’d be principal wife of an Alpha. That’s not a.....”
“Of an Alpha whose pack was financially insolvent before I arrived and will take years to recover from my departure,” she said. “Of an Alpha who came home from three years away and introduced another woman as his wife in front of his entire family and told me the situation was what it was.” She paused. “You’re asking me to return to a household I already left, in a position that was mine by right three weeks ago, as though the offer of reinstating what was already mine is a favor I should be grateful for.”
Kaelen’s jaw tightened. freewebnøvel.coɱ
“I don’t want it,” she said simply. “I have a title, a family estate, a business I’m rebuilding, and work that matters. What exactly are you offering that improves on any of that?”
He was quiet for a moment. Then: “I made a mistake.”
“Yes,” she said. “You did.”
“I’m acknowledging that.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. “It doesn’t change my answer.”
The door suddenly opened and Maelis came in.
Rowena had not been told Maelis was here, which meant Maelis had come with Kaelen and had been waiting somewhere, the entrance hall, probably, for the first portion of the conversation to conclude. The timing was arranged. They had discussed this before arriving.
Rowena looked at Maelis and understood the structure of the visit completely.
Maelis sat down beside Kaelen with the posture of someone reinforcing a position.
“Rowena,” she said. “The dowry.”
“What about it?” freēwebnovel.com
“The items that were taken from the estate,” Maelis said. “Some of those pieces had been part of the Varkos household for the duration of your marriage. Their removal has created gaps. Both practical and — sentimental.” She kept her voice stable. “We’re asking you to consider returning some portion of what was taken. As a gesture of goodwill, given that we’re discussing the possibility of....”
“We’re not discussing the possibility of anything,” Rowena said. “I’ve already answered.”
Maelis’s expression tightened. “The dowry items.....
“Were documented in the dissolution filing submitted to the Alpha King’s office,” Rowena said. “Every item was listed as Ashthorne property by provenance. Their return to the Ashthorne estate was legally consistent with the dissolution terms.” She looked at Maelis. “There is no legal or ethical basis for a request to return them.”
“We’re not speaking legally.”
“Then I’m not sure what basis we’re speaking on,” Rowena said. “Sentiment? Kaelen spent three years away from his marriage and came home with another woman. The sentimental argument belongs to me, not to you.”
Maelis opened her mouth.
“The loan,” Rowena said, before she could speak. “The twenty thousand that Kaelen borrowed before the wedding. That loan carries a fifteen percent annual interest rate and the repayment window is eleven months from the date of transfer.” She reached into the folder she had brought downstairs, Velvet had had it ready, because Velvet was Velvet, and set the loan agreement on the table between them. “If the Varkos family is discussing financial arrangements, this would be the relevant document.”
Kaelen looked at the agreement.
Maelis looked at the agreement.
The room was quiet.
“You charged him interest,” Maelis said. Very quietly.
“It was a loan,” Rowena said. “Standard terms and he signed it.”
Maelis looked at Kaelen.
Kaelen looked at the table.
He had signed it. In Rowena’s room, on an iPad, with a pen she had handed him across the desk. He had signed a loan agreement with his soon-to-be-former wife in order to fund the wedding and had not, apparently, fully considered how that document would read in a subsequent conversation about reinstating her to a position of domestic authority in his household.
“You.....” Maelis stopped. Gathered herself. “This is humiliating.”
“The loan is a private financial arrangement between two adults,” Rowena said. “What’s humiliating about it is a matter of perspective.” She folded her hands. “I’m happy to discuss a repayment schedule if the current terms are difficult. My attorney can work with yours.”
The sitting room absorbed this.
One of the lawyers from upstairs had appeared in the doorway, Celeste’s doing, probably, she had always had excellent timing, and was standing with a folder and a neutral expression.
Maelis looked at Kaelen in shame while Kaelen was looking at the loan agreement.
“I think,” Rowena said, standing, “that there’s nothing further to discuss today. The dissolution is final, the dowry retrieval was legal, and the loan terms are in writing.” She looked at both of them. “Maelis, your specialist appointment, please have your attorney confirm the endowment status. It’s active.” She looked at Kaelen. “I hope you and Virella find what you’re looking for.”
She walked to the door.
“Rowena.” Kaelen’s voice stopped her. She turned. He was looking at her with an expression she didn’t have a clean name for, not regret exactly, something larger and less manageable. “Was there ever.....” He stopped annd continued. “Did I ever......”
“Have a good afternoon, Kaelen,” she cut him short abruptly and walked out.
