My husband divorced me on national TV. He didn't know he just fired the genius behind his entire empire. novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Dowager

Imogen Halloway lived in a gray stone house on a hill, with a gate that opened before Dani reached the buzzer.

A housekeeper led her down a hall of dark wood and into a library that smelled like lemon polish and old books.

Imogen sat behind a desk with her back straight and her pearls exactly centered.

She did not stand.

"You have ten minutes," she said. "I've been timing it since the card went out."

"Nine, now," said Dani.

Imogen's eyebrow rose a quarter inch.

"Sit."

Dani sat on the edge of a leather chair and kept the backpack in her lap.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Your friend Glenn Dugan left a voicemail at my office at one in the morning." Imogen folded her hands. "He said Harold's name, and he said the word license, and he apologized four times for the hour. I thought it was the most honest message I had received in a year."

Dani nearly smiled.

Then she took the photocopy out of the backpack and set it on the desk.

Imogen put on a pair of reading glasses and read it from top to bottom.

She took her time.

When she reached the bottom, she took the glasses off and set them down very gently.

"Beacon, by Dani Kehoe," she said. "On every screen."

"It was on every screen for three years."

"I know," Imogen said. "I was there when it came down."

The room was quiet.

"It was a Tuesday. I stood on the mezzanine of the tower while the men from the design agency swapped the splash screen. Your name was on the old one. The new one said Halloway Systems." Her voice stayed flat. "Preston watched from the lobby. He did not once look up to see if you were watching."

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