Secret Billionaire Returns on Christmas novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: Dale's Knees
The fellowship hall held two hundred folding chairs, and every one was taken.
The rest of the town stood along the walls, still carrying their baskets.
The pastor stood at the head of the long table where the bake sale had been that morning.
Dale sat on a single chair in front of it, with a hundred and forty cardboard boxes stacked behind him.
"We are going to do this plainly," the pastor said. "No speeches. Questions, and answers."
"Dale, did you take sixty-one thousand four hundred dollars from the basket fund?"
Dale stared at his hands.
"I borrowed it," he said.
"Did you plan to return it?"
"I meant to."
"By when?"
"When the store recovered."
"Did the store recover?"
A small sound ran through the room, almost a laugh.
"No," Dale said.
"Did you tell anyone in this town that your brother stole what you had taken?"
The silence was long enough to count.
"I let them believe it," Dale said.
"Why?"
"Because it was true once." His voice cracked. "Because it was easier than the truth, and I was the one they trusted."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Secret Billionaire Returns on Christmas are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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