Marriage Had a Price

di Aesia Lrae (Autore)

WHITEHEAD AESIA LRAE, 2025

The moment Courtney saw the face of William Sinclair, her mother's accountant, she knew he had very bad news. She'd asked him on the phone if Crosswinds was having financial problems, and he'd evasively replied that he just wanted to chat with her. It was obvious his mother had cut corners over the past two years. She had hired minimal staff. The fences hadn't been painted. No repairs had been made. The place was starting to look shabby. That wasn't good for business. If Crosswinds was to compete with the sleek, modern thoroughbred rearing stables of the Upper Hunter Valley, it needed to improve its looks. He had told his mother about it, but Hilary had disagreed and had replied: –My daughter, we don't need luxury stables, but a new stallion. That was also true. Four years ago, when the stable was doing very well, Well, his mother had imported a fancy Irish horse named Four-Leaf Clover. Unfortunately, the horse contracted a virus and died after just one season. The foals weren't great, and they fetched so little at auction that Hilary chose to keep them. Without Four-Leaf Clover and with the other two stallions getting old, the breeding program had been discontinued and they had no money to purchase a new stallion. "I have to look hard," her mother had said, "because I don't have much money available." When she returned home with Goldplated, she was very proud, especially given the price it had cost her. But it hadn't been a bargain, and as she walked into the accountant's office, Courtney wondered if the money had been borrowed. William Sinclair, who was an old-fashioned gentleman, rose to greet her. "Good morning, Courtney," he greeted her. "Sit down." Courtney took off her hat and sat down, trying to get as comfortable as the hard chair would allow. But she wasn't successful. Her nerves had made her very tense. The accountant looked at the papers on the table and began to move them. Courtney grew impatient. "Tell me anything, Bill," she began sharply, and he raised his eyes with a slightly annoyed expression. He'd never liked being called Bill. But at that moment it was irrelevant. "Don't beat around the bush. Get to the point. I'm my mother's daughter, and I can handle it." William shook his head, thinking that she was definitely just like her mother. Not physically. Because Hilary Cross had been very ordinary. The daughter had taken after her father, that unknown, unnameable man who, after impregnating the forty-five-year-old spinster who had owned Crosswinds for more than a quarter of a century, had vanished without a trace.

• Autore: Aesia Lrae
• Anno edizione: 2025
• Editore: WHITEHEAD AESIA LRAE
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798232422905