Saved From Suicide, Sold Into a Lie novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Offer
Leanne's apartment door stood open at seven the next morning.
The rooms were bare.
The landlord was in the hall with a roll of tape.
"She gave notice yesterday," he said. "Paid through the month. Left her plants."
I took the fern off the windowsill.
I did not know why.
I was carrying it down the stairs when my phone buzzed with a text from my brother.
My office. Now. Come alone, kid, or Joanna sits in a cell tonight.
He had been let go after six hours of questions.
Nobody had arrested him yet.
I put the fern on the passenger seat of Hank's old truck and drove to the flagship restaurant.
It was empty at that hour.
Chairs sat upside down on the tables, and a cleaner pushed a mop across the marble.
Dorian's office was at the back, behind a kitchen full of copper pans.
He sat behind his desk in yesterday's shirt.
The social worker had handed him back to my mother before dawn, on Dorian's signature.
On the leather couch by the window lay the boy, asleep with the plastic badge in his fist.
My mother sat in a chair beside him with her back straight.
She did not look at me.
"Close the door," Dorian said.
I left it open.
He sighed and pushed a typed page across the desk.
"Read it."
It was a statement, one page, with a line at the bottom for my signature.
It said that I had known for five years that my wife was alive.
It said that I had agreed to the separation, and had never wanted her to come back.
"That's a lie," I said.
"It's a gift." He leaned back. "No victim, no fraud. Joanna walks. I pay the department back the funeral and the pension, with interest. You get the lease on your shop for ten years, and I will put half a million in an account for you."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Saved From Suicide, Sold Into a Lie from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend