“Oh, I don’t think that there is anything serious going on between Alexander and Duke,” she answered with confidence. “Duke just likes to joke around with Alexander. He’s veryfortable with his sexuality. He had a serious girlfriend a long time ago, but he acts the way he does because of hisplicated family situation.”


    I shuddered as I remembered the way Duke’s great uncle kept staring at me. “What’s up with Stanley Cater and his wife Hana?”


    Gai looked toward her office door, making sure that it was closed. I leaned closer to her, my pulse quickening. What was she about to reveal?


    “Well, Stanley ‘s first wife, Gianna, passed away in a tragic car ident while she was on the way to the hospital to give birth. The baby was already on the way, and she died when she was in the middle of having the baby,” Gai said with wide eyes. “Her son died in the ident as well.“,


    My mouth dropped open, and my stomach churned with horror. “That’s so sad.” Tears fell from my eyes, staining my cheeks with salt.


    Of course, I was sad because of the tragic loss of life. But I couldn’t help but wonder if Stanley had been staring at me so much because he thought I resembled histe wife? Was that why he couldn’t stop staring at me? Was that why he had wanted to set me up with Duke?


    Even though I still thought Stanley was creepy and he obviously conducted shady business, I still didn’t think that anyone deserved their loved ones to die in such a tragic way.


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    “Did you know that Duke is the heir to Stanley and Hana’s fortune?” Gai asked, startling me out of my thoughts about the tragic past of Stanley Cater.


    That shocked me. My mouth actually dropped open.


    “How?” I asked. “Isn’t Duke their great nephew?”


    “Yes, but Stanley’s only biological son never even got the chance to live.”


    Her sentence hit me harder than a speeding truck. “The baby that died with his first wife? In that car ident.”


    Gai nodded and frowned. “Yes. After that tragedy, Stanley didn’t try for another child for a long time. He did remarry—with Hana, obviously–but I think that the way he lost his first child was so traumatic for him that it was hard for him to try again.”


    We were quiet for a moment as a hush fell over Gai’s office. It was a simr feeling to a funeral.


    “So, Stanley has no other biological children?” I asked. “Is that why Duke is their heir?”


    “No, Hana eventually got him to try for another child, but this one was born a girl.”


    “Why wouldn’t she be the heir, then?” I tilted my head.


    “The Cater’s are a traditional family,” Gai said with a rueful smile. “Only a male can be the heir of the family.”


    I rolled my eyes. “How archaic.”


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    “I agree,” she said. “Their daughter is also intellectually disabled. So, Duke was the only choice for the family to be the heir.”


    I was quiet for a moment as I thought about how Duke seemed to hate Hana, Chloe, and her mother when he was talking about them today. Why would he hate the family that he was a part of?


    As if Gai could read my thoughts, she answered my unspoken question. “Hana hates that Duke is their heir because she isn’t even rted to him,” she exined. “Hana has tried to change it several times, and whenever she sees Duke in person, she makes remarks about how he is nothing but a charity case, gold digger. But you know Duke. He just brushes off herments with a well–aimed joke.”


    I smiled. My respect for Duke went up. I couldn’t imagine having á family dynamic like that. Didn’t it get exhausting?


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    “That’s why it’s so important for a person to choose the right partner, Gai said and shook her head. “All I’m saying is that the girl who ends up with Alexander would never have to deal with drama like that.”


    She looked at me knowingly, but I just shook my head and carefully handed her the sleeping cat. I knew that both Richard and her thought that Alexander and I should be together, but the Green family wouldn’t approve of that. Then, there would be a whole bunch of drama with one of the most respected families in the country, and I didn’t need that in my life right now.


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