Page 79 of The Rancher Married the Wrong Sister
The Rancher Married the Wrong Sister
by Marian Tee
Chapter One
“DO YOU, GAVINE LAUNCELOT, take Wednesday Arthurs to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
The judge’s voice sounds like it’s coming from underwater. Everything feels surreal, like I’m watching someone else’s life unfold from behind thick glass.
This isn’t how weddings are supposed to happen.
There should be flowers. Music. A dress I actually chose instead of this simple cream sheath I bought in a panic yesterday. There should be guests who came because they wanted to witness love, not whatever cold transaction this is.
But most of all, there should be a groom who actually wants to marry me.
Gavine hasn’t looked at me once since we walked into this sterile courthouse office. His jaw is carved from granite, his dark eyes fixed somewhere over the judge’s shoulder like he’s mentally reviewing quarterly reports instead of exchanging vows.
He’s breathtakingly handsome in his charcoal suit. Tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of commanding presence that makes everyone else in the room fade into background noise. I can see why Jessica was drawn to him. He’s everything she always said she wanted: powerful, wealthy, untouchable.
And unfortunately, he’s everything I apparently want too.
Which is ridiculous. And terrifying. Because I’ve never felt anything like this before. This pull, this heat that blooms in my chest every time I steal a glance at him. I shouldn’t be noticing how his expensive suit molds to his broad shoulders, or how his large hands would feel on my skin, or how his voice does something strange and fluttery to my insides.
I’ve never had these kinds of thoughts about any man. Not even close.
“I do.” His voice is flat, businesslike. He could be approving a merger.
The deep rumble of it sends an unwanted shiver down my spine. Even when he’s being completely cold, his voice affects me in ways that make my cheeks burn.
The judge turns to me, and my chest tightens like a fist is squeezing my lungs. “Do you, Wednesday Arthurs, take Gavine Launcelot to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
My throat closes up. This is it. The moment everything changed.
Three days ago, I was just Wednesday Arthurs, quiet bookkeeper living peacefully in the house my parents left me and Jessica. Then his lawyers showed up at my door with papers and threats and explanations that made my head spin.
Jessica had signed some kind of matchmaking contract with Gavine. She’d taken a massive upfront payment. Money I never knew about. But if she defaulted, the penalty would be astronomical. And since our house was listed as collateral on the shared inheritance...
The lawyers made it crystal clear: marry Gavine Launcelot in Jessica’s place, or lose everything.
My childhood home. My parents’ memory. Everything I had left.
Some choice.
“Miss Arthurs?” The judge’s voice is gentle but impatient.
I force myself to look at Gavine. He’s staring past me, his expression cold enough to freeze blood. A muscle ticks in his jaw like he’s counting the seconds until this farce is over.
But when his gray eyes briefly meet mine, my breath catches. For just an instant, his gaze drops to my mouth, and I feel myself blushing from head to toe.
Then he looks away again, and I wonder if I imagined it.
My hands are shaking. “I...I do.”
The words come out as barely more than a whisper, but they’re loud enough. Loud enough to sign away my freedom. Loud enough to chain myself to a man who orchestrated this whole situation for reasons I can’t begin to fathom.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Wyoming, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The judge closes his book with a decisive snap. “You may kiss the bride.”
Gavine finally looks at me.
