I Gave Him Half My Liver, Then He Sold My Father's House novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The File Moves Without Him

Elena presses the client badge into my palm while Harland waits for me to sit down.

'Wear it,' she says. 'He has spent weeks deciding what you are. Let him read the answer.'

The plastic card carries my name beneath the firm's crest. Nell Ashford. Independent client.

I fasten it to my coat. The pin catches in the fabric, and I think of Cormac fastening the back of my dress last night because my hands were still too sore to reach it. His mouth had found the scar above my hip with care, then lingered until care became something harder to bear.

His chair is empty beside the wall tonight. I keep looking at it anyway.

'You may sit now,' Harland says.

'Thank you.'

I take the chair beside Elena. She places a slim notice in front of me, then turns another copy toward Harland.

'The independent representation notice was filed this morning,' she says. 'Nell's instructions control access to the documents held for her position. You will address her accordingly.'

Harland glances at the badge. His mouth remains patient.

'Mrs Vale is not a party to the conveyance,' he says. 'Her presence in this room does not alter the registered position.'

'Miss Ashford,' Elena corrects.

'Of course.'

He says it with the smoothness of a man correcting a typographical error. Gregor used to say my name when he wanted a room to trust him. Harland uses my title because he has no reason left to trust Gregor's version.

A clerk at the far end of the room lifts a hand from her keyboard.

'The registry contact is on the call,' she says. 'She needs confirmation of who is authorised to provide the supporting documents.'

Harland turns toward her.

'The registered proprietor's representatives will provide them.'

'Which representatives?' the clerk asks.

His folder shifts against his side. 'Mr Vale's conveyancer.'

'They are not the claimant named in the independent client notice,' Elena says.

Harland looks at her. 'I think the situation is being described in terms more adversarial than the documentation requires.'

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