He Sent Me the Green Dress, So I Took His Company novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: Diminished
The hearing was held in a wood-paneled courtroom on the third floor, with a flag, a clock and nine rows of benches.
Every bench had someone on it.
The retired judge, the banker and my father's old friend sat behind my table in their good coats.
Across the aisle Gavin sat beside his lawyer in a charcoal suit, with his hair freshly cut.
Odette sat in the second row behind him, in a gray dress, with her eyes on her knees.
She hadn't called, and she hadn't texted.
My lawyer was a tired woman Emmett had found, who had read my file in the car and said only, "Don't help me."
She was working on a promise to be paid once my accounts thawed, because every one of them had been frozen since that noon at the bakery.
Emmett had covered her retainer with a check from his own pocket, and I had let him.
The judge came in, and we stood, and we sat.
"This is a petition," the judge said, "to suspend Mrs. Reyburn's voting rights as a shareholder on grounds of diminished capacity. Mr. Reyburn's counsel."
Gavin's lawyer called one witness.
The family doctor who had stood in my hallway that night took the stand and swore in.
He was a gentle, gray man who had once given my mother a lollipop for being brave.
"Doctor, how long have you known Mrs. Reyburn?"
"Eleven years."
"And in the past year, have you seen signs of confusion?"
"Mr. Reyburn has described concerning episodes," the doctor said. "Forgetfulness, agitation, an incident with a stove."
Keep reading free with an account. Start He Sent Me the Green Dress, So I Took His Company from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →
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