She pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes during her impassioned speech, and looked up at her father, whose face was becoming more and more red as she spoke.
“Rachel,” he said, drawing out each syllable of her name as if she were a simpleton. “Why are you fighting this? You and Vincent marrying will secure not only the business, but our family’s future as well. Andrews and I will not be able to run things forever, and Thompson will come on board as a partner soon. In the meantime, you will marry him, and then I can be assured you are looked after.”
“I appreciate that, Father, I do, but why does it have to be Vincent? Why can I not find someone who loves me, and whom I love in return?” she asked earnestly.
“Why… have you found that, daughter?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
“I — I’m not sure, Father,” she said, not wanting to say anything about Adam until she had the business with Vincent squared away. “All I know is that I do not love Vincent, and for as much as he may say so, he does not love me in return. I would know if he did.”
“Love is not the most important thing, Rachel,” her father said back to her. “What is important is that you will be looked after. Vincent has promised to take care of you.”
“There is something more at play here,” she said, rising and looking at him suspiciously. “Something you are not telling me.”
She stopped and leaned over the desk so that they were eye to eye. “Tell me now.”
He looked up at her in surprise. She typically allowed him to have his way, or at the very least win the arguments with her. After a time, he sighed and waved at her to sit back down.
“Fine, then, Rachel, I will tell you if you must know, although why it is important to you, I am not sure. What you should care about is that you are being looked after. But, anyway. Thompson’s family, as I’m sure you know, come from some means. His father owns a shipping company, which has done quite well. However, Thompson has three older brothers, all of whom are already working with their father. The eldest does not seem to want Thompson working within the company, for whatever reason, but his father wants to make sure his son is well taken care of. He approached me with a proposal. Once Andrews and I have the power plant up and running, making a reasonable income, they will buy it from us for Thompson to manage, at a price that is more than it’s worth. We would then be able to move on to something else, or live at our leisure if we’d like. They simply had one stipulation.”
“Which was…?”
“Thompson had seen you before, of course, at the power plant as well as at various events. He rightly decided you are quite beautiful. And so, he determined that he wanted to have you as his wife. A deal was struck — they will buy the power plant, likely in about a year’s time, you will become Vincent’s wife, and we will all ensure you are well looked after for the rest of your days. It is more than I ever thought I would find for you, what with you being born out of wedlock and all.”
He sat back, a smug, satisfied smile on his face, as if he were quite proud of himself for finding the answers to all of life’s quandaries. Rachel could only stare at him as she tried to comprehend what he had just told her.
“You bartered my life for your company? For your own financial prosperity?” She sat rooted to her chair, taking in the man she realized she had never really known.
“Not your life per se, but yes, I struck the best deal possible! It’s what I do, and Rachel, I do not see how you can be upset with this. I was only thinking of you.” His jowls shook as he spoke, and Rachel could feel the quiver of anxiety building inside her.
“But Father… how could you not have told me of this?” she asked, trying to placate him and yet keep herself from agreeing to the situation. “Surely, I deserved to, at the very least, know what was to become of me?”
“You knew what you needed to. Now I have been more than understanding toward you, Rachel. I allowed you to come on this trip to Scotland against my better judgment, and I turned out to be right! Do you not realize that everything works out so much for the better when you just listen to what your father says? For heaven’s sake, child, do you know, not many men would raise a daughter on their own, but I did everything for you — everything! Now the thanks I get is for you to question me thusly? I cannot stand for it.” He pushed himself back from the desk and stomped over to the door. “I have told you more than I should have and I cannot stand for any further insolence!”
With that, he wrenched the door open, and was off; to where, she had no idea.
Rachel sat, staring after him, turmoil in her heart. She had thought this would be a simple discussion.
How wrong she had been.
19
Adam rose early the next morning. He had stayed up late trying to complete his design. It was nearly finished, and he was looking forward to speaking with Trenton’s business partner, Sullivan Andrews. Apparently, the man was the genius behind the business, the partner who understood the inner workings of the operation of the plant. He had been successful in other endeavors but had never had the interest or the knowledge in running the business operations, according to Rachel. He and Trenton had
