ML was a complete moron. At whatever age he was at now, he was still cowering in the shadow of his abusive father. Lie to and seduce a woman for revenge against her brother, who actually did nothing wrong except buy (and expensively rehabilitate) ruined land that the bank would have taken away. My father, unlike the ML's father, gave good advice: "Never go to bed with anyone who has more problems than you do". Pity no one ever gave the FL that advice.
Her Royal Bed