Everyone Knew She'd Leave Me but Me novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: The Receipts

Nobody moved for a moment.

Then Dean went for the smile.

"Everybody, please." He raised both hands. "This is a misunderstanding. Erin is unwell, she has been under a lot of stress, and Warner has been feeding her stories."

"Dean."

It was his mother.

She had stood up in the front row in her lilac dress, with the tissue crushed in her fist.

"I held that girl's hand," she said. "I held her hand, and I cried, and you told me not to say a word."

"Mom, not now."

"Sit down and be quiet," she said, and, to my astonishment, he did.

The CEO walked up the center aisle.

She did not hurry.

Guests leaned out of her way, and a few of them looked at their shoes.

She stopped at the altar steps and faced Dean with her hands in her jacket pockets.

"The review closed on Thursday," she said. "I was going to have this conversation on Monday, in private."

"Look, I can explain the forged letter."

"You already did, on a microphone, in front of two hundred people." Her voice was dry and very clear. "Dean Clanton, your employment is terminated for cause, effective now. The company will pursue repayment of every expense you billed to it, and I'll hand the rest of the file to the district attorney."

A murmur went through the sales floor, which had come to a wedding and was getting a show.

"You can't do this in a ballroom."

"You picked the ballroom," she said. "I'm only using it."

I didn't look at him.

I looked at Erin, who was standing beside the altar with the chain in her fist.

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