Shielded by the Ruthless Military Boss novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Apology, Properly
The lieutenant was awake and asking for me, and the captain's pass would not come through until afternoon.
So I was still in the kitchen at seven the next morning when my mother knocked.
She stood on the front step, and she had left her pearls at home.
Her hair was flat on one side.
Judd opened the door in his shirtsleeves with a dish towel over his shoulder, and she did not look at him at all.
"The board voted at six," she said to me. "The Ashdown board. They have asked me to step down."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.
I was not.
"Mr. Pollard's firm has withdrawn the offer on the house. The buyer is gone. Half the club has stopped returning my calls."
"I'm still sorry."
"You did this."
"You did it at a brunch, Mom. I only asked a question."
She flinched.
Behind me in the hall, Clover came out of the spare room in a bathrobe and stood very quietly with her arms folded.
My mother drew a breath and held it, and I watched her work out what I wanted.
"What do you want from me?" she said at last.
"One thing, and not for the house. For me."
"Name it."
"The club has a Monday luncheon at noon. You stand up at the same table where you cut me off and you apologize, out loud, to me."
Her face went white and then red.
"In front of them?"
"In front of them. Then you sign a paper, and my husband's lawyer will write it. It says that my life, my name and my money are mine and you have no say in any of them."
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