The Nanny, the Husband, and the Woman They Forgot I Was novel · Chapter 9 of 32

Chapter 9: The Chair

"The January payroll," I said. "And February. And every month since my daughter was born."

The board chair didn't blink.

Behind us, the party had started up again, too loud.

"Not here," she said. "Breakfast. Seven. The diner on El Camino, by the train."

"I'll have a baby with me."

"Good. I like babies. They don't lie on quarterly calls."

The elevator doors closed on her.

Vivian sipped her water.

"That," she said, "was the most expensive woman in this building."

"I know. I drafted her side letter."

"Of course you did."

At five to seven the next morning I slid into a red vinyl booth with Rosie asleep in her car seat on the bench beside me.

The board chair was already there.

She had a black coffee and a plate of dry toast and a newspaper folded to the stock tables.

"You look worse than last night," she said.

"She was up at two and four."

"Mine were up at two and four for eleven years." She pushed the toast toward me. "Eat. Show me."

I put a folder on the table.

The payroll lines. The Cayman deposits. Cliff's invoice, photographed on my phone, with the account number circled.

She read every page with a finger moving down the margin.

She didn't hurry. The waitress refilled her coffee twice.

When she was done she closed the folder and put both hands on top of it.

"Eleven million," she said.

"Give or take."

"I put the first two hundred thousand into that company. In a garage. Cliff Newberry's garage, actually." She looked at the window. "I liked Cliff."

"He makes very good coffee now."

"I'm sure he does." She turned back to me. "Mrs. Linwood, here's my problem. I believe you."

"That's a problem?"

"Yes. Because when I take this to the audit committee, his lawyer will say what I'd say. A wife in a custody fight downloaded her husband's files and found some numbers. She has a grudge and a postpartum diagnosis, and it's in a magazine."

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend