Chapter 9 - The Cost of Being Seen
Daniel stopped her at the door.
Not with his hands.
With a question.
“What are you going to do when you get there?”
Sarah stood holding one sneaker.
“I don’t know.”
That answer finally broke the momentum.
She sat back down.
We called Thomas instead.
He picked up on the fourth ring.
“I told you not to worry.”
“That’s not how worrying works,” Sarah said.
A small silence.
Then he let out a breath.
“The agency said they have to review the incident.”
“Did they see the video?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“You don’t owe me a job.”
“No. But I owe the truth a phone call.”
The next morning, the hotel manager agreed to speak with the staffing agency.
He also sent Sarah a written summary of what he had personally witnessed.
No request for cash.
No threat.
A broken cake table and a family conversation.
It wasn’t everything, but it was a start.
Victoria arrived at our hotel at ten.
The front desk called upstairs.
Sarah stared at the phone.
“Tell her we’ll meet in the lobby.”
Victoria stood beside a decorative fireplace, immaculate in cream trousers and a silk blouse.
She looked like someone attending a tasteful brunch.
“I brought your honeymoon documents.”
Daniel took the folder.
“Thank you.”
“The car to the airport is booked for two.”
“We’re not going today,” Sarah said.
Victoria’s expression sharpened.
“You cannot let him take that from you, too.”
“He didn’t cancel my honeymoon.”
“You’re throwing away thousands of dollars.”
Sarah folded her arms.
“Did you write the letter?”
Victoria glanced toward a family waiting at the elevators.
“Lower your voice.”
“Did you?”
“I’ve already answered.”
“No. You sent a sentence that sounded better to you.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“You were finally happy. Robert loved you. We had built something stable.”
“So you signed my name.”
“I kept you from getting dragged backward.”
Sarah’s jaw trembled.
“You let me mourn someone who was alive.”
“I let you move on.”
For a moment, even Daniel looked stunned.
Then Victoria opened her handbag.
Inside was a small brass key on a faded blue ribbon.
Sarah recognized it.
“Robert’s desk.”
Victoria closed her hand around it.
“There are things in that desk you won’t understand.”
May you like
Sarah held out her palm.
“Then I guess I have more reading to do.”
