No Longer the Clown novel · Chapter 16 of 16
Chapter 16: No Longer the Clown
The whole shop went quiet.
Somebody in the line said, "Oh, no way."
Somebody else held up a phone.
Dexter opened the box.
It wasn't a diamond this time.
It was a thin gold band, plain, the kind you'd pick if you were trying to look humble.
"Addie," he said. "I know what I did."
"Do you?"
"I lost my job. I lost my apartment. Mom won't leave the house." His voice cracked. "Phoebe's lawyer keeps calling me as a witness. Everybody I know has seen that video."
"That sounds like a list of what happened to you."
He flinched.
"I'm not done," he said. "I know I don't deserve you. I know I was blind. But you were the only person in my whole life who ever just took care of me. Without asking for anything. Without making it about her."
"Without knowing," I said.
"What?"
"I took care of you without knowing. That's the part you liked."
His face crumpled.
"That's not fair."
"It's the most fair thing anyone's said to you all year."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–8 of No Longer the Clown are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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