Divorce Me If You Dare: The Hidden Queen's Revenge novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: A Paper Bag

Cora tied her robe tighter and opened the door herself.

The camera came up at once, and a red light blinked on.

"There she is," Marguerite said, in a bright voice built for the lens. "My poor daughter-in-law. Cora, darling, we've been so worried."

"Mrs. Farwell," said the man with the microphone, "is it true you've left your husband and are refusing to speak to him?"

"No," Cora said. "I'm speaking to him now. Through his mother."

Delaney stepped forward and took off her sunglasses.

Her eyes were red and wet.

"Cora, please," she said. "Brooks is falling apart. You've always been so fragile, and we all want to help you. Let's go inside and have tea."

She reached for Cora's hand.

Cora let her take it.

"Delaney, that's kind," she said. "You've been kind for three years. Sweaters, rides, birthday cards."

Delaney smiled with relief.

"Of course. That's what friends do."

"I know about the twelve emails you deleted," Cora said.

The smile stayed on Delaney's face, but her hand went still.

"Alexander's people pulled them off the mail server backup this week," Cora said, so the microphone caught every word. "Number two hundred and nine, sent from your private account to Brooks, two years ago. Do you want me to say it?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Keep her happy with small things. A cardigan costs thirty dollars and buys three years. She'd thank me for a paper bag."

The hallway was silent.

Marguerite's head turned slowly toward Delaney.

"I never wrote that," Delaney said.

"Dated the ninth of March. Sent at 11:42 at night. The subject line was Little Mouse."

The reporter was writing fast.

Delaney's lip trembled, and then her face changed.

The soft look slid off it.

"You were a paper bag!" she snapped. "You stood in that kitchen with your hair in a knot like you had no idea what you were worth, and I was the one who had to be nice to you! Do you know how tiring it is, pretending to like someone so..."

She stopped.

The camera was still running.

The man with the microphone said, very softly, "Could you finish that sentence, Miss Rayburn?"

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