Leonard's POV
The room was too quiet for comfort. The long dining table at the center of the Kingston's living room was usually a place for polite chatter, for carefully measured words exchanged over wine. Tonight it felt like a stage. A stage for his and Jennifer's performance.
Leonard sat at one end, back straight, palms resting against his knees. His father, Franklin, lounged opposite him, eyes sharp despite the calm expression. Beside him, Henrietta wore her usual mask of elegance, while her son, Nicholas, scrolled idly on his phone as if everyone gathered were beneath him. Across from them, the Hendersons sat in a neat line. Jennifer's father, rigid. Her mother, watchful. Her elder brother, skeptical. And Jennifer herself—serene, smiling faintly, as though she had already rehearsed how the night would play out.
Leonard cleared his throat. "I asked you all here because there's something I need to tell you. Before the engagement was arranged, I… was seeing someone."
Jennifer's mother stiffened. Her son leaned forward.
"I don't like where this is going," her brother muttered.
"Let him finish, Jacob." Jennifer said softly.
Leonard's jaw flexed. "She's no longer in my life, but… she's pregnant. And the child is mine."
Silence followed, sharp as glass. Every eye fixed on him as if he'd just confessed to a crime.
"Pregnant?" Jennifer's mother drew in a sharp breath.
Nicholas let out a low whistle. "Well, that explains the tension."
"Quiet," Franklin snapped. His gaze stayed on Leonard, unreadable but hard. "So, this woman is pregnant now?"
"Yes. I ended things with her before the engagement was arranged. I only learned of the pregnancy recently."
The story they had agreed upon. Messy enough to sound true, but not so tangled it would collapse under questioning.
Jennifer's father gave a short, skeptical grunt. "Unfortunate timing."
Leonard expected that. To any outsider it looked like a soap opera headline—pregnant ex, wedding in jeopardy. The sort of scandal no respectable family wanted near their name.
He glanced at Jennifer. She had gone quiet, hands twisting her napkin, eyes lowered. Then she lifted her head, voice trembling just enough. "So while I was trying on dresses and picturing a wedding, she was carrying his child? Do you know how humiliating this feels?"
She played it well. Too well. Her lip quivered and her eyes glistened. Anyone else would have seen betrayal. He saw performance. A convincing one at that.
"Jennifer, I just found out. And it was before the engagement was fixed."
Jacob shifted uneasily. "Doesn't matter. It's still a mess. Another woman, a baby?"
Jennifer's father's expression hardened. "I don't want baggage tied to my daughter's future. This is a disaster she doesn't deserve."
Franklin bristled, leaning forward. "Let's not reduce it to that. My son has spoken honestly. He'll take responsibility. That should matter."
Jennifer dabbed her eyes, voice trembling. "Maybe this was a mistake…"
Henrietta's scoff cut through. "The relationship ended before the engagement. All this dramatics is unnecessary."
Jennifer's mother shot her a look. "Unnecessary? Easy for you to say. Put yourself in our shoes."
"Oh, please. You heard him—it was before the engagement. Let's not turn this into more than it is." Henrietta said, almost amused.
Leonard caught the flicker in her eyes. She looked satisfied and elated. It felt like she wanted this, like she had been waiting for it the whole time.
Jennifer's father's jaw clenched. "Enough. This is unacceptable." He rose. "We'll need to reconsider this arrangement."
Jennifer's voice wavered with perfect despair. "I don't know if I can go through with this."
Her mother muttered, "What a disaster. Come, child. This family doesn't deserve you." She placed a steady hand on Jennifer's shoulder, guiding her up with quiet finality.
The Hendersons stood, gathering themselves. Jennifer lingered just long enough to throw Leonard one last wounded look. Rehearsed and flawless. Then the door closed, leaving silence in their wake.
Henrietta broke it with a sigh. "Well, that was a disaster."
Nicholas chuckled. "Always finding new ways to drag us down."
Henrietta let out a bitter laugh. "And this is the son you plan to trust with everything, Franklin?"
Leonard noticed the slip. The gleam in her eye before irritation masked it again.
Franklin rubbed his temples. "What is all this? I'm disappointed in you, Leonard."
"I never meant for things to go this way."
"You just made me look like a fool in front of them."
"I had no idea, Father." He kept his tone steady, unshaken.
"That doesn't excuse this. You're irresponsible." Franklin rose, storming out.
Henrietta hissed, "Utterly irresponsible," while Nicholas smirked beside her. They were enjoying this a little too much.
Leonard pushed back his chair and left.
Back in his room, he paced. Had it worked? The Hendersons' outrage had been convincing. Jennifer's performance, flawless. By all measures, the engagement should have been finished. So why did he feel unsettled?
His thoughts churned. Something felt off about his stepmother, Henrietta. The way she'd fanned the fire and then turned on him, sharp as a blade. The flicker of satisfaction in her eyes. Was she pushing for this? And why? The plan had been to end one marriage. Yet somehow it felt like he had walked into something else he couldn't name.
By evening, the family gathered again for dinner. Tension filled the air, lingering like smoke.
Franklin set his fork down. "I've decided. You're going to take responsibility."
Henrietta arched a brow. "How do you mean? He's already ruined enough---"
"Henrietta." Franklin's voice was steel.
He turned to Leonard. "About this woman. You bring her here so we can discuss what's next. You are going to marry her."
Leonard's jaw tightened. "Father---"
"No buts. You will make up for your mistakes. Today proved I cannot trust you with greater responsibilities."
Leonard frowned. "And what do you mean by that?"
Franklin's gaze was heavy. "How can I hand you the weight of this family when you can't even manage your own life?"
Henrietta tried to interject. "Franklin---"
"I won't let this family be dragged through scandal again. I built everything with blood and years of discipline. You will not tear it down with weakness."
Scandal. That's what he called it. The affair that shattered what they once had. The family that once felt whole.
Leonard's frustration cut through his composure. "One marriage collapses, and you're already forcing another?"
Nicholas leaned back, lips curved in a smug smile. "I don't see why you're so worked up, brother. The girl in question was yours once, wasn't she?"
Leonard exhaled, a sharp breath of frustration. This was spiraling. Things were getting out of his control.
"Marriage isn't just sentiment, Leonard. It's structure. It's proof you can shoulder more than yourself. A man who cannot protect his own household cannot be trusted with an empire. Everything I've built, every decision, every sacrifice demands stability. And until I see that in you, until I see you stand firm where it matters most, I cannot hand you my legacy. Not the company, not the name. Responsibility begins at home and if you cannot carry it, your brother will."
Nicholas leaned back in his chair, a slow smile curving at his mouth, smug and satisfied, as though the decision had already been made in his favor.
Leonard excused himself from the table with the same calm he had worn all evening, but inside, his thoughts were a storm. Everything had turned upside down. What should have been an ending had twisted into another trap. Jennifer's flawless act had achieved its purpose. Her parents had walked out. But instead of freedom, his father had chained him to something else. Another arrangement. Another performance.
It was supposed to have been simple and clean. Now it was a mess he hadn't planned for, a mess he would have to find his way out of.
Leonard sat in the dark, frustration simmering. Nothing about this had gone the way it should have. How had it come to this? A lie meant to free him from an unwanted marriage had twisted into a noose he now had to wear. He would have to make it real.
And the stakes had shifted. This wasn't just about Jennifer anymore. It was about his father's trust, about the company, about keeping Nicholas and Henrietta from circling closer to what they both wanted.
Nicholas. The thought alone hardened his jaw. He couldn't let his father hand everything to him—not ever. That left him with one option. If the lie had carried him this far, then he would have to turn it into something solid. Which meant reaching out to Lisa.
The very idea soured in his mouth, but the decision pressed heavier with every breath. He didn't want this. Yet if a contract was the only way to keep control, then so be it.