Contract said no feelings. His lips broke the rules. novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Gala, Second Half

I walked across the ballroom floor in the red dress, and four hundred people watched me do it.

My heels were loud on the parquet.

Leland stood at the chairwoman's elbow with a look of gentle regret, and the page lay open on the white cloth between them.

"Madam," I said. "May I?"

The interpreter translated.

She slid the page across to me with two fingers.

My name was typed at the bottom, General Counsel, and above it my signature, in blue ink, smooth and confident.

It was a good forgery.

It was not a perfect one.

"This is dated the fourteenth of March," I said, loud enough for the room. "Last March I was the deputy in the legal department. I became general counsel on Monday, by a vote of the board."

I held it up.

"A woman cannot sign as general counsel seven months before she is general counsel."

Leland smiled at the room.

"A clerical slip. My assistant is careless with dates."

"Your assistant is here," I said.

Hannah had been waiting by a pillar, and she stepped aside.

The young man from Leland's floor stood behind her in a rented tuxedo, pale and upright.

He looked at Leland.

Then he looked at the chairwoman, and he lifted his chin.

"Leland Stratton told me to type that page on Tuesday night," he said. "The signature was traced from her old expense forms. I have the file. I kept it."

The room made a sound.

It was not a gasp.

It was four hundred people drawing a breath at the same time and not letting it out.

"You're a disgruntled employee," Leland said, and his voice, for the first time, was not warm. "A child with a grudge."

"I'm a child with a saved file," the young man said.

← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend