While He Waited in Aspen, I Married His Rival Chapter 02

While He Waited in Aspen, I Married His Rival Chapter 02

The next morning, when I came downstairs, the main house living room had been transformed into Liam’s temporary war room. A huge map of Montana covered our family’s century-old walnut table, studded with colored pins.

Chloe was bent over the map, her finger tracing the boundary of Blackstone Valley. Liam stood behind her, his body so close he nearly had her in an embrace, his gaze following her fingertip with intense focus.

“Build the observation deck here,” Chloe said, her voice bright and authoritative. “Eagle’s Beak Cliff. It has the best view. You can see the entire valley from there. It’ll be the resort’s main selling point.”

“Good. Whatever you say,” Liam answered without hesitation, his voice laced with a tenderness I’d never been shown.

That was my grandfather’s favorite place to sit and watch the sunset.

Finally, they noticed me. The smile on Liam’s face froze, replaced by an impatient scowl.

“So you finally decided to show up. Chloe’s been pulling sixteen-hour days on this project, while you, the actual owner of Blackstone Valley, just ride around all day.”

He pointed at the plans on the map, his tone dripping with admiration for Chloe and contempt for me.

“Look at Chloe’s vision. That’s business sense. And you, Ava? Besides your outdated ideas about ‘family tradition’ and ‘what Grandfather used to do,’ what can you possibly bring to this project?”

An outsider.

In the house where I was born and raised, I had become an inconvenient outsider.

“I’m tired,” I said, turning back toward the guest room. “You two carry on.”

“Ava!” Liam roared behind me, but I didn’t look back.

I shut the door, closing out the perfect pair and their grand ambitions.

My phone lit up. It was a text I’d ignored a dozen times, from Ethan of Red Rock Ranch.

“Just say the word, and I’ll stake everything Red Rock has to help you protect Blackstone Valley.”

From behind the door, Liam’s voice drifted through, his tone already softening for Chloe.

“Don’t mind her. Ava’s just spoiled. Let’s continue. We’ll go with your plan and announce it at tomorrow’s project meeting.”

I stared at Ethan’s text and gave a bitter smile.

I didn’t reply. I called him.

“Ethan?” My voice was frighteningly calm.

His steady voice came through the line, with a hint of concern so faint I almost missed it.

“Ava.”

“Does your proposal still stand? The one about merging our families’ water rights?”

After a brief silence, he gave me a single, decisive word.

“Always.”

I closed my eyes, listening to Chloe and Liam map out their bright future on the other side of the door. “Saturday,” I said, each word deliberate. “In Blackstone Valley. I need a groom.”

“You won’t have to stake Red Rock Ranch,” I added, my nails digging into my palm. “Ethan, *you’re* the groom.”

That night, I lay awake until dawn.

I remembered the first time Liam came to the ranch. He’d taken my hand and stood before my grandfather’s gravestone, his eyes burning as he promised, “I swear to him that I will respect and protect the Monroe family legacy, just as I will protect you.”

But time erodes all things, especially when a California tech bro’s ambition outweighs his vows.

The day before the wedding, there was one last project meeting.

Chloe stood before a massive projection screen like a conquering queen. She wore a sharply tailored suit, her blond hair perfectly coiffed.

“Finally, to honor the Monroe family’s long history, I personally designed the main logo for the resort.”

She clicked the remote, and an image filled the screen.

It was the cattle brand I knew better than my own reflection, the one passed down through my family for a hundred years: the letter M with a lazy R slung underneath. But now it was twisted into something unrecognizable. The M was stretched into a cold, commercial font. A frivolous, Nike-like swoosh was tacked on below the R. The whole thing was rendered in a tacky rose gold.

Beneath the logo was an even more insulting slogan:

“Blackstone Valley Luxury Journey: Taming the Wild West.”

Around Chloe’s neck hung a necklace bearing that same “new logo” as a pendant.

All the blood rushed to my head.

“That is not a tribute.” My voice was quiet, but it cut through the room like ice, silencing everyone. “It’s desecration. My family’s brand represents our name, our honor. It is not a commercial symbol for you to ‘tame’ and slap on coffee mugs.”

Chloe’s face went white. Tears instantly welled in her pretty blue eyes, as if she were the one who’d been wronged.

“I’m sorry, Ava… I just thought… I thought you’d like it. I was trying to integrate our visions…”

She picked up the laser pointer, her hand trembling as she aimed it at the screen.

“I… I’ll delete it right now! I’m sorry. This is all my fault!”

A hand shot out and snatched the pointer from her grasp.

It was Liam. He lunged forward, anxiously checking Chloe’s hand. His voice was laced with distress and reproach.

“How many times have I told you not to get so worked up? You could hurt yourself.”

Chloe held back a sob, her voice shaking.

“Liam, did I mess everything up? Ava… she seems really angry…”

Before I could say a word, Liam spun around, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Chloe stayed up all night on this design. She was using her professional expertise to add value to your outdated ‘traditions.’ And this is the thanks she gets?”

He stepped closer, his voice a low hiss.

“Without Chloe, you’d just be sitting on this worthless land, waiting for the bank to foreclose.”

“Apologize!” he ordered, pointing at the teary-eyed Chloe. “Apologize to her for being unreasonable and hysterical.”