“It’s time you understood why I really married her.”
Every ugly suspicion I had buried came rushing back.
Pity.
Money.
Guilt.
A substitute for me.
I grabbed the wall for balance.
“Please don’t do this,” I whispered. “Do not destroy four years of seeing my sister happy.”
Ben pulled out a folded document.
“I made Rosie a promise.”
He held it toward me.
“It’s worse than you think.”
My hands shook as I opened it.
The law firm’s letterhead caught my attention first.
It belonged to my father’s company.
Below it was a formal agreement.
There were dates, payment schedules, legal conditions, and a six-figure amount promised to Ben.
In exchange, he was to marry Rosie and assume legal responsibility for her care.
At the bottom were three signatures.
My mother’s.
My father’s.
And Ben’s.
A scream tore out of me.
“You sold yourself to marry my sister?”
My voice struck the walls and echoed back.
“Cathy—”
“She is fighting for her life in there, and you stood beside her at the altar knowing my parents had paid you?”
Ben slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
He was crying.
“I never took the money.”
“The contract says—”
“Every check they sent went into an account in Rosie’s name. Every dollar. I have never spent a cent.”
