She Handed Me a Paper Plate, So I Canceled Her Whole Family novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Not for Pay

The fire stairwell at Pathlight smelled of paint and cold concrete, and it was the only room on the floor with a door that locked.

I walked into it after the board meeting and Daniel followed me and shut the door behind us.

"Say it," I said.

"Say what?"

"Whatever you were about to say in there. You went white when Brodie said it."

"I went white because he used you to hurt me."

"Me?"

"You." He rubbed his face. "He's going to put my name in a court document, Susannah. Everyone on that board heard it, and by tonight your company will think you've been sleeping with me for years."

"Have I?"

"No."

"Then it's a lie."

"It's a lie that works." He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it out. "I wrote a resignation. It's already addressed to the chairman. If I'm gone, there's nothing for him to hold."

I looked at the phone.

Then I took it out of his hand and put it in my own pocket.

"Absolutely not."

"It's the smart move."

"You always say that. Your smart moves are why I've never lost a contract, and I'm not letting you smart-move yourself out of a job you built."

"You're not going to pay me to be a liability."

"Pay you?"

My voice came out sharper than I meant.

"Is that why you stay? Because I sign the checks?"

"It's what I've always thought," I said. "It's why I told myself I couldn't want..."

I stopped.

The stairwell light buzzed.

I stood very still.

"I don't stay because you pay me," he said, finally and quietly. "I turned down two offers last year. One of them was triple what you pay. I did it because I'd rather be in the room you're in."

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