He Chose His Ex, So I Chose My Empire novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: The Answer
Behind me, the bronze doors swung open.
The 31st floor was coming out.
The project manager from the breakroom, with her coat over her head. The intern with the lanyard of pins, still wearing them on a gown. Two of the men from partnerships, and the COO's assistant.
They saw Sabrina on the step below me and stopped dead under the arch.
Nobody went past us.
Nobody went back in either.
Sabrina didn't look at them.
She kept her eyes on me, rain running off her chin.
"I know donors," she said. "Every one in this city, and half of New York. I can raise money in my sleep. You need that. You've got a space heater and a city letter."
"I've got forty million dollars and a city letter."
"Then you need me more."
She swallowed.
"Please."
It was the first time I'd heard her say it.
I'd imagined it, I'll admit, on some bad nights that month.
I'd imagined it would feel like something.
It just felt wet.
"No," I said.
Her mouth trembled.
"Laurel."
"You're asking the wrong person for the wrong job," I said. "First Key's for kids who start with nothing. You started with everything and spent it on taking things from people."
Behind me, someone on the 31st floor shifted their feet.
I didn't turn around.
"But I'll tell you what I'd tell anyone," I said. "There's a county housing office in Sacramento. A desk in a basement. They're always short of caseworkers, and they don't care who you dated at Stanford."
Sabrina stared at me.
"You're joking."
"I'm not. It's where I met the best person in this city. Ask for nothing and you might learn something."
The intern with the pins made a small sound into her collar.
Sabrina heard it.
She turned and looked up at them at last, all of them, under the arch in their good clothes.
The people who'd brought her flowers.
The people who'd said "Hugh's going to love it."
For a second I saw her waiting for one of them to come down the steps.
The rain came down between us and nobody moved.
Then the bronze door opened again, and Hugh came out.
Sabrina saw him.
Her whole face went soft and hopeful.
It was the worst thing I'd ever watched her do.
"Hugh," she said.
He stopped beside me.
Not in front of me.
"Goodnight, Sabrina," he said.
That was all.
She waited for the rest of the sentence.
There wasn't one.
She pulled her ruined white dress up off the wet stone and went down the steps into Civic Center.
No car came for her.
She walked toward Van Ness in the rain with her shoes in her hand, and the lamps took her one by one until she was gone.
Behind me, the project manager turned around.
"Laurel," she said. "I'm sorry. About the breakroom. About all of it."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of He Chose His Ex, So I Chose My Empire are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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