After Eight Years, She Left Me at the Altar for Her First Love novel · Chapter 23 of 48
Chapter 23: What He Earned
Celia's office was on the top floor, and it was the first time Troy had walked into it as a guest.
She stood when he came in.
She was thinner, and paler, and she had her hair pinned back, and she looked clear-eyed.
There was no baby in the room.
"She's with the nurse downstairs," Celia said. "I wanted you to see this part without her."
On the desk lay three objects, side by side.
A ring of brass keys, an envelope, and a heavy black folder with a gold seal.
"These are the keys to a townhouse on Maple Row," Celia said. "It's yours, paid for in full, with a gym in the basement. You'd have your own door."
"No."
"The envelope is a check. Eight years of salary at an executive rate, plus the seventy-one thousand Greta took. With interest."
Troy said nothing.
"The folder is a seat on the board, and ten percent of my shares. In a trust for our daughter, with you as its trustee."
"No to that, too."
"Take the seat."
"I don't want to sit at that table, Celia. I sat at it for one morning, and that was enough."
She put her palm flat on the folder and pushed it a half inch toward him.
"It's what you're owed."
"The money is." He picked up the envelope. "I worked eight years in your house. I carried your bags and took your calls and ran your errands, and I never got a paycheck that wasn't cut in half. I'll take what I earned."
"And the rest?"
"The rest was never wages."
She looked at him.
He knew what she was asking, and he did not make her say it.
"I'm not going to pretend I didn't love you," he said. "I did. For a long time. I'm not going to take a house and a seat so that I can stay near it."
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