The Bride Changed. The Bill Didn't. novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Snapped Pearls

Dalton walked to the foot of the stage with his hands out in front of him.

"Mara," he said. "I can explain."

Two hundred phones rose into the air.

I recognized one of them.

My cousin stood by the bar with her screen up, and the red dot was lit.

The livestream was running again.

"Explain," I said.

"I didn't know about the bracket. I swear it. I was twenty-nine. My mother handled everything."

"You knew about the four years."

He swallowed.

"Yes."

"You said all right."

"I was scared of her." His voice cracked. "You don't know what she's like at home. I thought if I kept you close, it would be over, and nobody would get hurt."

"I got hurt."

"I know. I'm sorry. And I'll make it right." He moved nearer, and he lowered his voice, but the microphone was still hot and the room heard it. "Please. Tell them I helped you. Tell them I gave you the letter. I'll testify against her. I'll sign anything, if you say I came forward."

The room went quiet again.

I looked at him.

Four years of coats he picked, and dinners he picked, and a hand holding mine at a graveside.

"You want me to say you were brave," I said.

"I want you to say I'm not like her."

"You asked a teller about my father's box three times so you could burn what was in it."

His face fell apart.

"You are exactly like her," I said. "You're just less good at it."

A man at a table near the front said, quite clearly, "Shameful."

Dalton turned around to find the room looking at him, and for the first time in his life he had nothing to say.

Estelle had not left the stage.

She stood in her pale blue gown with her hand on her pearls, and she looked at her son with open disgust.

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