Not a Love for Faint Hearts novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The Side Letter
The boardroom at Marlow Hall had a table for twelve and a window over the harbor.
On Friday morning every chair was full.
Camille's father sat at the far end in a gray suit, his hands folded on a thin file.
Two bank lawyers sat at his elbow.
Percy's mother sat across from him, upright, with her handbag in her lap.
Imogen came through the door on Percy's left, carrying a green cloth album against her ribs.
He did not take her arm.
He did not walk ahead of her either.
He stopped one step behind her shoulder and stayed there.
"Mr. Wexford," said the old director in the chair, who was filling in for Edith. "You asked for the floor."
"I did," Percy said. "But she has something to say first."
Every head turned to Imogen.
Camille's father looked at her with cold distaste.
"The bank has called its loan," he said, before anyone else could speak. "Forty million, due today. We have been patient. We are not required to be generous."
"You were patient for three years," Imogen said. "Because you expected a wedding."
His face did not move.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Last night I mended the spine of Edith's garden album."
She set it on the table.
"Somebody took it from her study on the day she collapsed. Somebody who knew what was inside it."
Camille's father went very still.
Percy's mother said sharply, "This is a family photograph book."
"It is," Imogen said. "And under the lining of the spine, where Edith pressed it flat four years ago, there is this."
She slid a bone folder under the cloth and eased up a long strip of paper.
It was folded small and flat, creased soft with age, and she laid it on the table in front of the old director.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Not a Love for Faint Hearts from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
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