Five People, Four Rejections, They Voted to Erase Me, So I Erased Them novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Ronan's POV

Ronan's POV

Eugene Pfeiffer's office had a window onto the studio floor, and he kept the blinds up so he could watch the crew work.

I stood in front of his desk with my jacket on.

I had not been inside the room in two years.

"Sit," he said. "Please."

"I'll stand."

"Suit yourself." He took a bottle of water from a small fridge and poured a glass he did not drink. "I owe you an apology, Ronan. I took your leaving personally."

"You didn't take it personally. You docked my last check."

"That's fair." He smiled the TV smile. "Let's fix it."

He slid a folder across the desk.

It was a contract, six pages, with a tab at the signature line.

"Partner," Eugene said. "Ten percent of Pfeiffer Media, a title on the channel, and a real office with a door. You've been the best editor I ever had, and I'm tired of paying you like an employee."

I did not touch the folder.

"What's the catch?"

"You give me the drive. Every copy. And the girl goes back to whatever life she was building."

"The girl."

"My daughter." He spread his hands. "She's making this harder than it has to be. She could have everything she wanted, if the two of you stopped."

"She wants her own money."

"She'll get an allowance, like her brother."

"Her own money," I said again, "is what she earned."

He studied me over the glass.

"Is this about the coat?" he said. "Because I know the coat bothers you. I watched you cut it. You cried in the bay that night, I heard."

My hands went cold.

I had not known he knew.

"You cut it anyway," Eugene said gently. "That's what I'm offering you, son. Somebody who understands what the product is. You're not a hero. You've never been a hero. You've been a good editor all your life."

It was the truest thing anyone had said to me in two years.

I had never been able to argue with it.

I had cut her face four hundred times.

I had never once looked at her when she looked back.

"She'll never forgive you," Eugene said. "Think about that. Every time she sees you, she sees the shot."

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