She Bought My Husband for Seven Days, So I Took Back Everything novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: The Waiting Room

Elise's POV

At ten on Thursday, nine women sat in a circle of folding chairs in the clinic's back room.

I stood against the far wall, beside Davis, with my coat still on.

I had said yes to the director on the phone the night before.

She had asked once if I was sure.

"I'm sure," I'd said. "I want them to hear it from her."

A deputy waited in the hall outside, with a folder.

Brent stood at the back by the door in a blue work shirt.

I did not look at him.

At five past ten, the door opened.

Lacey came in with a leather binder pressed to her chest and a cardigan the color of cream.

She had done her hair.

She had put on her bracelet.

"Hello, everyone," she said, in her warm, low voice. "Thank you for waiting."

Three of the women stood up to hug her.

She hugged them each for a long time.

I had watched her do that in this room for four years, and I had thought it was love.

Then she saw me.

Her smile didn't break.

It held for a second, and she turned to the director. "Elise is here. I'm so glad. I hope we can all be gentle."

"Please sit, Lacey," the director said.

Lacey sat in the center chair, the one she always took.

She laid the binder on her knees.

"I know you've all seen things online," she began. "I want to say first that I'm not angry. I'm hurt, and I'm worried about Elise. She has been under so much strain. The truth is that she imagined some of this."

"Lacey," the director said.

"Let me finish, please. I've given five years to this group."

"I know what you've given."

The director opened a folder on her lap.

"Fourteen months of pickups, signed E. Garner, at a pharmacy Mrs. Garner has never entered. A refrigerator of sealed medication in your garage. Eleven thousand dollars from Mrs. Garner's mother-in-law, deposited into your account, that never reached this clinic."

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