The Stand-In Bride Refusal novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Apology
"Before I vote," I said, "you apologize."
It was ten past six on Friday morning, and we stood in the service corridor of the Verran Grand.
Rowan wore a plain grey suit with no tie.
"To the board?" he said.
"To the people who clean it."
He looked at the steel doors at the end of the hall.
Behind them, the early shift was clocking in.
"There are two hundred of them," I said. "They read the news last night. They read that their chief executive bought a maid."
"I know what I did."
"Then say it where they can hear. Not to a camera. To them."
He did not argue.
That was the part I noticed.
He pushed the doors open himself.
The staff dining room was lit.
Housekeepers in grey tunics sat at long tables with paper cups of coffee.
Line cooks in whites leaned on the walls.
Two dishwashers stood by the tray return with their arms folded.
A hush came over the room, the kind I had known from the other side.
Rowan walked to the middle and did not climb onto a chair.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Stand-In Bride Refusal are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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