It was all there, in ink.

The whole scheme, documented by the schemers themselves.

Vivienne read that line about the fifty percent twice, and then she turned and looked at Wayne Vance, and asked him quietly whether he had known all of it from the start.

He lowered his head.

“I never wanted anyone to get hurt,” he mumbled.

“You were willing to marry me by force,” she said, her voice like cold water, “to steal my mother’s land.

Whether you wanted me hurt or not is beside the point.” He tried to explain — that Delilah had assured him Vivienne would get used to the arrangement in time — and I watched my fiancee look at him with a disgust so complete it needed no volume.