I should have taken a picture of this moment. George looked lost for words. How often did that happen?

He snapped out of his trance when his phone vibrated aggressively in his pocket.

“Shit.” He pulled the phone out and went to throw it on the chair until he saw who the message was from.

I saw the name too; Tabitha. The woman he’d been speaking to after our wedding. The woman he loved. An undeniable feeling of jealousy washed over me every time I thought about that moment. I dealt with it by trying not to think about. Perhaps that wasn’t a great long-term solution, but it would do for now.

It had almost worked. I’d barely thought about Tabatha at all tonight. Thoughts of her were buried so deep in the back of my mind, that I’d been about to give in and sleep with George. He clearly wanted to, and didn’t seem to feel guilty about betraying this other woman. What did that say about him?

George typed out a quick reply, and turned his phone off. “Sorry about that. No more interruptions.”

It was too late for that. The moment had passed.

“Who is she?” I asked. I knew I sounded like a crazy, jealous girlfriend, but we were married, and I’d been about to screw him. I was entitled to ask about this other woman he loved and was messaging while he was with me.

“Just someone asking me about the big dinner,” George replied. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s pick up where we left off.”

“You’re in love with her.”

“Huh?”

“I heard you.” I hadn’t been spying on him. No point pretending I hadn’t heard. “You spoke to her just after we got married, and you told her you loved her.”

“Oh. Well, yes, I suppose that’s true.”

“You ‘suppose’ you’re in love with someone else?”

We both knew what I’d left unsaid. Why couldn’t he love someone else? He wasn’t in love with me, and I wasn’t in love with him. We might be married, but I didn’t have any claim to him.

“I’m not ‘in love’ with her. That just sounds weird.”

“What do you mean… oh,” I trailed off, as I realized who the woman must have been. If the thought of being in love with someone was ‘weird,’ then it likely meant said person was either a very close friend, or a family member. “Cousin?” I asked.

“Close. Sister.”

“You have a sister?”

“Yep.”

“And don’t you think you should have mentioned that before now?” I asked.

“We’ve never really discussed family. It’s not like I know a lot about yours.”

“Yes, but my family tree doesn’t include a claim to the throne of the United Kingdom.”

“It does now. Anyway, Tabitha doesn’t have a claim. She was born a few years after my Mom’s marriage to the King ended, and she has a different father. She also lives in the States, actually.”

We hadn’t spoken much about family because I cried every time I tried to talk about my mother. I didn’t have any other family to speak of, but it had never bothered me before. My friends had all been more important to me. Then they’d betrayed me.

“Are you close?” I asked.

“Yes,” George replied. “Very. In fact…”

“In fact?”

“I should have told you all this sooner.”

“This isn’t filling me with confidence, George.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” George took a deep breath and sat back down on the chair. I didn’t speak; he suddenly looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. His usually strong frame, now slumped down as if he’d given up the fight. “I lied to you.”

My heart skipped a beat, and then made up for the loss by pounding away in my chest at twice the speed. Now it was my turn to sit back down; better that than faint.

“What did you lie about?”

“The reason I’m doing all this,” came the reply. “The reason I asked you to marry me, and the reason I want to claim my inheritance.”

George reached out and placed his hand on mine, but I pushed his away and pulled mine out of reach. Our marriage hadn’t exactly been under the most romantic of circumstances, but that made the lie hurt even more. I’d told him the truth about needing a visa. What could be worse than wanting to marry me just to claim a load of money and live like a playboy?

I might not want the answer to that question; I asked anyway.

“Tell me,” I insisted. “We need to be completely honest with each other. I’m pretty sure that was in the vows.”

“My sister, she’s… not well. Neither is my nephew, her son.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

I sounded cold and callous grilling him on the topic of his sick family members. Maybe I was like my mother after all?

“They were in an accident a few years ago. Actually, you know what, fuck that, it wasn’t an accident. They were hit by a car. A car driven at them deliberately by her ex-boyfriend. It’s fucked up.”

“Oh my God.” I quickly reached out and placed my hand on his just like George had tried to do to me earlier. “I’m so sorry.”

“They’re okay,” George said, squeezing my hand. “Well, they’re not completely okay, obviously, but they’re not on death’s door or anything either.”

“You need the money to look after them?” I asked.

“Yeah. They’re both undergoing physical therapy, and as you may know, your country doesn’t believe in providing medical care without it being accompanied by a fucking huge invoice.”

“I had noticed. I’m almost tempted to have an accident while I’m here just to make use of the NHS.”

George smiled and squeezed my hand more tightly. “I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have. I’ve been imagining you living like a player on your new fortune. I feel bad for your sister and nephew, but I’d rather the money go to them than bottles of champagne and loose women.”

George laughed out loud and pulled me up out of my seat and flying onto his lap. “I don’t actually like champagne, and I’m hoping to just live it up with one loose woman for the time being.”

“I am not loose,” I insisted.

“You’re assuming I’m talking about you.”

“You’d better be,” I replied.

George laughed again, but this time the laugh stopped quickly. He reached up and held the back of my neck, before bringing me down towards him for a kiss.