I Slept With My Enemy, Now He Won't Let Me Go novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: The Petition

Ansel laid the white roses on the foot of the bed with practiced sorrow.

"You scared us all," he said. "Winifred hasn't slept."

Jude stood up from the chair.

He was a head taller than Ansel, and his shirt was still stained with Neil's blood.

"Get out," Jude said.

"Jude, please. The doctor said no shouting."

"I'm not shouting."

"You're about to," Ansel said gently, and turned to the man in the gray suit. "This is my lawyer. He's here for Neil's sake, I promise."

The lawyer opened a folder.

He did not look at Neil's face, only at the page.

"Mr. Ashworth, I represent your cousin in a petition filed this afternoon with the county probate court," he said. "It asks the court to suspend your appointment as chairman-elect of Ashworth Boatworks."

Neil stared at him.

"On what grounds?"

"A review of capacity. Your recent medical emergency, your reported condition, and your decision to conceal a serious health matter from the board."

"My condition is none of the board's business. They voted seven to nothing."

"The board voted that the matter was closed," the lawyer said. "The court has not."

Ansel sat down on the edge of the bed.

His eyes were wet.

"I hate this," he said. "I do. But you drove a car on the harbor road bleeding, Neil. You ran from a board room in the middle of a crisis. I'm worried about what happens to the yard if you collapse."

"You emailed my ultrasound to four hundred people."

"That was a mistake of the office."

"Your office is you."

"Neil." Ansel put a hand on his knee. "Sign the proxy. Just for the bed rest. I'll hold your vote until you're well, and we'll withdraw the petition. No court, no papers, no hurt."

He produced a second page from the folder.

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