I Was Counting Down To Leave Him novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Say It To My Face
We went down together, because there was no point in hiding.
The lobby of Saltmarsh House was two stories of pale oak and glass, with the sea behind it.
Thirty reporters stood in it in a half circle, and Lydia walked to the middle with absolute, proprietary ease.
She had a small remote in her hand.
"Thank you all for coming," she said. "I'm Lydia Beaumont, Brand Director of Ellery Hospitality. I want to clear the air about last Saturday."
She pressed the remote, and the big screen over the reception desk lit up.
My own cut-up voice filled two stories.
"I'll end all of you. I'll burn it down."
A murmur went through the reporters.
"That is Flora Marden, the woman who owns, as of this week, a controlling share of this hotel," Lydia said. "She said it to a ballroom full of guests. She is also trying to take the company from the family who built it. I think the public deserves to hear the person they're about to be asked to trust."
Cameras turned toward me.
I stood by the reception desk with my hands in my blazer pockets.
My assistant stood beside me with his phone in his hand.
"Ms. Marden?" a woman called. "Would you like to respond?"
"Yes," I said. "I'd like to be very brief."
I nodded to the sound tech, who sat behind the front desk with his laptop.
The screen changed.
It showed two lines of sound, one above the other, and the second one was whole.
My real voice came out calm and warm.
"Good afternoon. I'm Flora Marden. I planned today's ceremony."
It ran through the whole speech, and the reporters stopped writing to listen.
When it reached the part about the veil, someone near the front laughed out loud, and was shushed.
Then the tech played the clip again, and as each word of it sounded, a small mark lit on the whole recording above it.
End, from one sentence.
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