The Man My Sister Left Behind novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Public

The hall went so silent I could hear the pumpkin lights buzzing.

Cora made a small broken sound beside me.

I let go of her hand.

"Cursed," I said.

Beatrice turned her pale eyes on me and waited for me to cry.

"I'm a nurse," I said. "I've held the hands of nine hundred women on the worst night of their lives."

"One in four of them lose a baby. Nothing they did caused it, and nothing I did."

"What you did, Mrs. Rooke, was say it in front of three hundred people so it would hurt."

A chair scraped at the back.

It was Gus, in his yellow slicker, on his feet with his cap in his fist.

"That's enough out of you, Bea," he said. "I carried your husband's coffin."

Beatrice didn't look at him.

"You have nothing but a sister's apology and a nurse's grudge," she said, to the room.

"I have a ledger."

I opened the manila folder and laid the first page on the nearest table, under the pumpkin light.

"This is the bill of sale, and it carries your signature."

"All nineteen stones, Mrs. Rooke."

A man at the table picked it up.

He read it, and passed it to his wife.

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

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