Chapter 11: The Other Way

"You froze it," I said.

"Yes."

"A week before you made the offer."

"Yes."

"Then Lily wasn't in danger that morning."

"Not from me."

"But the process server."

"That was Rourke's. Not mine."

The wind snapped at my coat.

I kept my voice low, because it wanted to go high.

"Say the rest."

"There was a standstill agreement. I could have signed it alone. It would have held the debt for a year."

"A year."

"Maybe longer. Time to find a way out."

"Without a marriage."

I heard it.

I heard every word, and still it took a while to land.

"You stood at that table at dawn," I said. "You watched me read it with my hands shaking."

"I did."

"I was twenty-nine hours awake. I asked if I was fired."

"I know."

"You let me think it was the only way."

"I did."

"Why?"

His eyes didn't leave mine.

"Because I wanted you in the room," he said. "And I didn't know another way to get you there."

"That's not a reason. That's a confession."

"It's both."

The snow kept falling between us.

I had read about this in the chart notes of other people's lives.

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