He Let Our Daughter Die for Twenty-Three Dollars novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Say the Number

I didn't answer Carol.

I let her hold my arm while the champagne dried cold on my dress.

The front door opened behind me.

Sheldon stood in it with his coat over one arm and a lawyer's folder in his hand.

Forty heads turned to look at him.

"Brooke, I'm sorry I'm late." His eyes found me. "Annabel."

"Sheldon!" Brooke ran to him in her white dress and put her face against his shoulder. "She came here to humiliate us. She says the apartment was stolen."

"I didn't say stolen," I said. "I said paid in cash."

Sheldon set the folder on a table.

He took in the champagne stain, the paper in my hand and Colter standing quietly at my shoulder.

His jaw moved once.

"Everyone, I apologize. My wife has had a very difficult month. She isn't herself."

"I'm myself," I said.

"Come home, Annabel." He used the voice he used on donors. "Say you're sorry for tonight, and we'll forget the rest."

"Tell them something first."

"This isn't the place."

"It's the place you picked," I said. "Tell everyone what I lived on this month."

He frowned.

"I don't know what you mean."

"The first of the month. The bowl. How much was in my envelope?"

A man by the bar said quietly, "What bowl?"

Sheldon looked around the room.

He saw the phones.

He saw his partners, and their wives, watching him with open faces.

"This is a household budget," he said. "My wife is given a monthly sum, and she draws it. It teaches discipline."

"How much?" I said.

"Annabel."

"Say the number, Sheldon."

"Twenty-three dollars and fifty cents," Sheldon said, very clearly, because he had never in his life backed away from his own rule.

← Chapter 10 · All chapters · Chapter 12 →

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