Wanted by My Three Bosses novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: Rule Three

I kept the tablet against my side and let her come to me.

Meredith crossed the open floor with her folder held to her chest and her eyes on my face.

Anson, Gray and Josiah stood behind my desk, and she did not look at any of them.

"Daphne, dear. I'm glad you're still here." She laid the folder on my blotter. "I hoped I'd catch you before the lawyers did."

"Catch me for what?"

"The board chair called me at six this morning. He is very upset." Her voice dropped. "He wants this to go away quietly, and so do I."

She opened the folder.

On top lay a single page, with my name typed across the first line.

Below it was a figure with five digits, and a line that said: Mutual separation, effective today.

"Three months' pay," Meredith said. "More than generous. You'd keep your reputation, and so would they."

"Nobody has asked me to leave," I said.

"Nobody has to ask, dear. You're an intelligent girl."

Gray made a low sound behind me.

I put one hand up without turning, and the sound stopped.

"Where do I sign?" I asked.

Meredith's smile warmed all the way to her eyes.

"Oh, thank goodness. Here. And I'll have the cheque cut by noon."

I did not take the pen.

I took my office key off the ring in my pocket instead.

It was a small brass key with a number stamped into the head, and Anson had put it in my palm on my second day.

I laid it on the blotter, on top of her letter.

"Rule three," I said, to the desk.

Nobody breathed.

I watched Meredith.

I did not watch the men, because I knew what their faces would do, and I needed to see hers.

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