One Kiss, the Billionaire's Bride novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: The Cashier's Check
Rosalind Ridley sat in the leather chair outside his office with her handbag on her knees and her back very straight.
Holbrook stopped in the doorway of his own outer room.
She had been there since nine, his assistant said quietly.
She had refused coffee and a magazine, and she had not looked at the door once.
"Mrs. Ridley," he said.
"Mr. Draper."
"Come in."
He shut the door behind her, and did not sit.
She stood in front of his desk and opened her handbag, and took out a long cream envelope.
"It's the money," she said. "All four hundred thousand. I've never touched it. I went to the bank on Saturday and had them make a cashier's check, so there's no argument about what's in the account."
"I don't want it."
"It isn't yours, it's your family's trust. But I want to put it in your hand."
"Why mine?"
"Because you're her husband, and I owe you a plain word too."
He looked at the envelope, and he did not take it.
Rosalind swallowed.
"I let that man say what he said to my daughter in a coffee shop," she said. "I told her to let him talk. I sat in the bakery for six weeks and watched Dwight believe he'd get her, and I let him believe it, because the story I told myself was that it would send her to you."
"You let him."
"I let him."
"You said she'd have said no."
"I said that." Her chin shook. "I said it because it was easier than saying I'd have said yes to anything, once I had the number in my head."
Holbrook felt something rise in him that had nothing to do with the Draper temper.
Keep reading free with an account. Start One Kiss, the Billionaire's Bride from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →
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