My Sister Stole My Wedding, So I Took Her Husband's Company novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: The Key With the Apple

Maxwell's POV

I have sat through board meetings that ended in lawsuits.

I had never watched a room hold still the way that dining room did for Brooke.

She stood at the foot of the table with her fork in one hand and her water glass in the other.

She set them both down.

"I'm not going to cry," she said. "I did that all week. It didn't help anyone."

Nobody spoke.

Hazel sat next to me with her hands flat on the tablecloth.

I could feel her through the chair, held very still.

"I turned the key," Brooke said. "Mom gave it to me and I turned it, and I stood in that hall in my sister's veil and I liked how they looked at me."

Her voice shook, and she let it.

"I told myself it was only until Dad's debt was cleared. I never asked what debt. I didn't ask because I didn't want to know it was her place I was standing in."

"Brooke," Hazel said.

"Let me finish."

Hazel closed her mouth.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'd like to say that out loud, so nobody thinks I'm asking." She wiped her face with the back of her wrist, fast. "My lawyer filed the annulment on Friday. I've moved out of the apartment. I have two suitcases and a job at a hospital, planning their fundraisers, and I start in a week."

"You'll stay in the spare room," Winifred said, from the sideboard, "until you can pay for your own."

"Grandma, I can't..."

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