After a Year of Silence novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: Signed by Somebody Else
The board met at eight the next morning, and I walked into the room before Quentin did.
Quentin carried the forged petition in an envelope under his arm, because a signature I never wrote was the one proof that Gwen had lied.
Nine directors sat around the long table.
The board chair sat at the head with Gwen's email printed in front of her, and the elevator photograph was on top.
"Ms. Linwood," she said. "You asked to speak first."
"I did."
"Mr. Brightwell is recused from this item. He may sit at the back."
Quentin took a chair by the wall.
He did not look at me, because I had asked him not to.
I put my folder on the table and left it closed.
"The woman in that photograph is me," I said. "The man is my husband."
A director on the left made a small noise.
"We have been married three years," I said. "The license is on file at the county clerk. I kept it quiet at work because I wanted my name on my work. That was my choice, not his."
"You concealed a relationship with the chief executive," a director said.
"I concealed a marriage. You are asking if I slept with my husband."
Nobody laughed.
A man near the end of the table looked down at his hands.
"The email says you were promoted for it," the chair said.
"Then let's check."
I opened the folder.
"Six annual reviews. Six different directors signed them. Mr. Kettering countersigned. Quentin signed none, because Quentin was never allowed to."
I pushed the pages down the table.
Each director took the one with their own name on it.
The man at the end of the table read his and cleared his throat.
"I scored her the highest in the company that year," he said. "I'd do it again."
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