otes dancing in the air. Amelia zipped up the last of her suitcases. It was
a crisp, clean sound
es, Hunter's chief of staff, his face a carefully neutral mask that couldn't quite
hick with all the things that couldn't be said. They stood by the marble c
ling a thick stack of papers.
se paragraphs of legal jargon, the clauses and sub-clause
page, her eyes finding the empt
re cracking slightly. "Perhaps you should review the a
lat, devoid of emotion. "I'm not taking anythin
e quiet room. She signed her name-Amelia Head-with a steady, fluid stroke. Not
the table toward Alan. The gesture was fi
folder and pulled out a thin, crisp slip
" he said, sliding it toward
were supposed to represent her value, her silence
the table with two fingers, as
hing. That was the agreement." She stood, smoothing th
jected check, clearly
lked to the hallway, retrieved her suitca
obby without looking back. The heavy door clicked shut behind
before a window that overlooked the concrete canyons of the financial district
d, refused the check, and left. The enti
ike a fool. All her previous resistance, her pleas, her tears..
d until the wood splintered, a sharp shard di
n Alan, the red light on his private internal lin
the button
money, cut through the speaker. "Hunter. I don't have time for pleasantries. This weekend is
"Mother, that's not possible. Amelia and
Catherine snapped. "Are the papers fin
, b
aughter-in-law. And I expect to see her o
ne wen
feeling suffocated. He looked out the window at the sky, which had turned a bruised, stormy gray.
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