Claire and Nicholas After Divorce novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Hearing

The dean's conference room had a long oak table and a box of tissues placed exactly in the middle.

I knew who the tissues were for before anyone sat down.

Nicholas took the chair at the far end.

He had not shaved, and his suit was the one he wore to funerals.

He did not look at me once.

Brianna came in last, in a cream cardigan with her hair pulled back and her eyes already wet.

She sat as close to the dean as the chair allowed.

The dean cleared his throat.

"This is a preliminary review. Miss Kingsnorth has filed a complaint, and Mrs. Linden has agreed to attend as the person who raised the original concern."

"Ms. Linden," I said. "Not Mrs."

"Of course."

The dean's assistant slid a form across to Brianna.

"Miss Kingsnorth, in your own words."

Brianna took a tissue and held it against her nose.

"I didn't want any of it," she said in a small voice. "Professor Linden said my scholarship review was coming up. He said he could help me or he could hurt me."

I kept my hands still on the table.

"He texted me late at night. He told me not to tell anyone. I was scared to say no."

"That's a lie," Nicholas said.

"Professor Linden," the dean said. "You'll have your turn."

"It's a lie. She wrote to me first. She was the one who..."

"Please."

Nicholas stopped.

His jaw worked.

Brianna wept quietly into the tissue.

"I'm sorry, Claire," she said, turning her head toward me. "I should have said something sooner. I didn't want to hurt you."

In March she had stood in my kitchen and told me my lasagna was better than her grandmother's.

I looked at her.

"Do you have messages that show the pressure?"

"He deleted most of them," Brianna said.

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