Page 13 of Dearly Unbeloved
“Do you remember last year when I asked you to look over the terms of my inheritance?” I figured there was no harm in asking Cal to see if he could find a loophole. He couldn’t, and, though he offered to reach out to an old friend who specializes in inheritance law, he said it was pretty airtight. “I understand that I have to be married, and I’ll receive the inheritance after three months, but what happens if I get divorced after those three months? Can they take it back?”
Surprise lights Cal’s face. “Not that I can remember, but I’d need to double-check the terms again. Do you have a copy?”
I pull it up on my phone and pass it over. Cal scans it. “There’s nothing in here to say you have to stay married once you have the money. The only issue that might come up in a situation like that would be if someone else claimed you’d committed fraud by getting married just for the purpose of the inheritance, but since there’s no one expecting the money if you don’t get it, I don’t think there’s much of a risk there.”
I breathe a long sigh of relief. “Good. That’s… good, yeah.”
“Any other questions?”
“Yeah, um, hypothetically, if an employee had a potential conflict of interest with a direct manager—like Jazz being your daughter-in-law, for example—they would need to report that ASAP, right? Or the employee who didn’t report it could get in trouble.”
“Yes…” Cal draws the word out, his brows meeting in the middle. “Why?”
I take a deep breath, practicing the words in my head before I say them out loud for the first time. “Rose and I got married on Sunday.”
It’s almost comical how wide Cal’s eyes get. He opens his mouth and closes it about four times without saying anything.
“So, yeah… Jazz is my sister-in-law now. If you could pass that on to HR, but also not tell Jazz, that would be great.”
“What the… You and Rose got married for your inheritance?” Cal asks, leaning forward. Shit, I forgot what a gossip he is. Still, he legally can’t tell anyone.
“No, we got married because we were blackout drunk in Vegas. We’restayingmarried for the inheritance.”
“But you two hate each other.”
“Yes, well, alcohol.”
“Shit.” Cal rubs his jaw. “I can’t tell Maggie about this. You told me this knowing I can’t tell Maggie. What the fuck, Sierra?”
I wince. “Sorry. It’s only for a few days, if it helps. We’re going to tell everyone at family dinner on Friday. Which gives you plenty of time to practice acting surprised.”
“This is… I have so many questions. Christ. So what, you’re going to stay married for three months, then get divorced?”
“That’s the plan. Oh, and no one else can know about the inheritance part. I’m already worried Jazz is going to killme for getting drunk and marrying her baby sister. I don’t need to make it worse.”
“What if Maggie figures it out? Can I tell her then?”
“How the hell would she figure it out?”
Cal chuckles, something like relief shining on his face.
“What?”
“You know I love you, but there’s no way you and Rose are going to be able to act like you like each other enough for Maggie not to figure out something is up.”
I groan, leaning my elbows on the desk and letting my head fall into my hands. He’s right. Rose and I have barely spoken since we left the diner, because we have no idea how to speak without fighting. We’re so fucked.
What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?
“Baywatch?”
“Lord of the Rings?”
“Where the hell are you getting that? It’s clearlyThe Little Mermaid.”
“Titanic!” I shout above my bickering family.
“Sierra got it,” Kyo says, and everyone groans.
