The Mistress in the Room novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Nothing in the Box

On Monday morning I sat on the marble bench in the lobby of my mother's family's building and waited.

The security guard stood by the elevators with his hands folded.

He had watched me cut Douglas's key card that day, and he did not hide that he was pleased to be here.

At nine, the elevator opened, and Douglas stepped out with a cardboard box.

It held a desk lamp, a framed photograph of himself with a governor and a coffee mug that said World's Okayest Boss.

Hannah had given him that mug when she was fourteen.

He saw me and stopped.

"I wanted to say goodbye," I said.

"You wanted to watch."

"That too."

He shifted the box on his hip.

He had lost weight in nine days, and a gray stubble showed along his jaw.

"The partners gave me until noon," he said. "They're talking about a clawback. They say the apartment was an abuse of funds."

"It was."

"I have nothing, Fran. My lawyer says I need to rent a room."

"Your lawyer is right."

"The house is half mine. Twenty-nine years."

"The house came to me from my mother, in my name, before I ever met you." I kept my voice level. "The building is hers. The lease is mine. The bakery was mine before you wore a suit. Every account that mattered, I put my name on, and you never once asked to read it."

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