KATHERINE

After I told Matthew the whirlwind of information I'd learned over the past twenty-four hours, he let out a long whistle.

"That's a lot to handle, Katherine," he said. Something shuffled on his end. "Do you know the name of your mother's lawyer?"

"Mr. Howard," I answered. "Now she has someone else for the car accident, but Mr. Howard was the one she had before."

"Any reason why she'd change?"

I chewed on my lip. "I don't know. It could have something to do with what she did with my shares in Wayward Publishing."

Matthew sighed. "Give me a few hours to get in contact with Mr. Howard. If I get any information, I'll send it your way."

I sank into the large chair behind my desk, relief flooding over me. "Thank you, Matthew. I really appreciate it."

He let out a chuckle. "Of course, Katherine. Anything for a friend."

I perked up at his words. "Speaking of friend, Matthew, I know you said you'd stop by today to come get me and Erland, but I'm already putting so much stress on you with all this legal stuff and I really can't—"

"Don't be silly, Katherine."

I blinked. "Silly? What do you mean?"

"I know what you were about to say, and you aren't going to find someplace else to stay. You aren't a burden."

His words warmed my numb hands, and I couldn't help but smile. "I really don't know how to thank you, Matthew."

Matthew let out a laugh. "You don't need to. Let's talk about this later. I have an appointment in a few minutes."

With that, I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone. I leaned back in the chair, staring out at the surprisingly warm office. From what I saw of Nick's office—cold granite and dark wood—I expected mine to be much the same. But aside from the formal font that scribbled out my name on the plaque by the door, the desk was a warm redwood, with touches of pink in the tulips on the counter and yellow in the curtains that filtered the sun's rays.

I set about exploring the room. As I ran my fingers along the spines of the books behind my desk, I couldn't help but wonder—had everything been placed here for me? How could Nick have known that I would come? A cold feeling shot up my spine as I wondered how Victoria might have felt.

If she was fighting me for ownership of my shares, then it would be no wonder if she was absolutely livid.

A though struck me and I turned on the monitor at the desk. As the desktop loaded, I logged into my email.

After Nick dumped me, my inbox had been flooded with condolences, and I only held out for a year before switching to a new email. If Nick had reached out to me during that time, surely the lawyer's email would be there as well.

I looked up "Howard" and, sure enough, there sat a string of emails from a Mr. Lawrence Howard. My answers were always borderline incoherent, but he responded with a formal tone regardless.

At the end of the emails, he detailed the contract he'd worked out with my mother, Nicholas, and Victoria. When I downloaded the document, my blood went cold when I saw—plain as the venom in Victoria's smile—my signature on the bottom of the page. Along with a note:

I can't imagine what Nick sees in me now that he couldn't see before. He left me because I could never give him what he wanted. I certainly can't do it now—I'm not the person he thinks I am.

I accept the terms. It would be best if I didn't have to wait four years to get rid of Nick and Victoria at all, but if that's what they want, I'll take it. Four years or tomorrow—what's the difference if I'm never going to see them again?

I checked the date at the last message. June 20th. The day before I get admitted into the hospital for alcohol poisoning. I logged out of the computer and sank into the chair, trying to steady my heart rate.

Bile singed the back of my throat as the sweet scent of tulips reached my nose. I don't know how long I sat there, trying to find memories long-drowned in whiskey, before I turned to my vibrating phone. I picked it up.

1:24 - Missed call from Betsy

1:37 - Text from Matthew Burgess

I opened Matthew's message, surprised to hear from him so soon.

Just got off the phone with Howard. Your mother left you a letter. I forwarded it to your email.

Since I'd just logged off the computer, I checked my email on my phone. Matthew's email as at the top of my inbox. Subject: Letter from Camille.

I hesitated before opening it. My hands shook so bad I almost dropped my phone. Just before I could work up the courage to read the email, my phone rang. Betsy.

"Hello?" I brought the phone to my ear. My voice sounded weak, even to me, but Betsy didn't seem to notice.

"Kat!" She sounded nervous. "Are you alone?"

My brow furrowed. "Yes. Why? What's the matter?"

"Rick's been lying to me," she said, half-breathless.

I almost bit my tongue. "That cheating bastard!"

"Hold on," she said. "That's not exactly what I found. Rick's been meeting with someone, but it wasn't what I thought."

"He's been seeing Victoria," I finished, finally putting the pieces together.

Betsy paused. "Yeah—wait, how did you know that?"

"He and Victoria are working to buy part of Wayward Publishing. Nick told me."

I knew I was lying through omission, but I just couldn't tell Betsy the truth just yet. I was still trying to digest it myself.

"Well, it looks like their deal is going to take somewhere between three to six months," continued Betsy, "and I may or may not have offered Victoria the chance to sublet your place—please don't be mad—"

To both her surprise and mine, I found myself laughing.

"Kat?" Betsy's voice wavered. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," I said, unable to stop my lips from curling up in a smile. "It's just really weird to think that Victoria is going to live in my house."

While I just spent the past week living in hers.

But I bit my tongue before saying the last part. Betsy knew Nick had offered me a place to stay, but I just didn't know how to explain it to her.

"Switching the topic, Kat," continued Betsy, "I know you said you'd recently found a place to stay aside from the hotel. Is there any chance I could come down to stay with you for a little while? I need a break."

"I'll be staying with Matthew for the next month or so. I'll have to ask him if I'm allowed to have a guest over, but I would really hate to place another burden on him—"

"Nevermind." Betsy's voice was sharp. "It's fine. It was just a thought. A stupid thought. Ignore me."

"Betsy—" I tried to chime in, but she cut me off.

"I have to go, Kat," she said. "Rick is meeting Victoria for some kind of meeting and I'm going with him for lunch before."

I knew very well that Victoria wasn't up in Pennsylvania, but it was clear Betsy needed some kind of space. She hung up before I could say goodbye.

* * *

The rest of the day was rather quiet. Nick left me alone and anything he had to say to me, he let the receptionist be the messenger.

While I had told Victoria that I would take up responsibility as an owner, I still really didn't know what it was that I was supposed to do. All I knew is that I couldn't go back down to the sixth floor with Grey, where the hardest thing I had to do was read a manuscript and write a report on it. Could I still do that here? Or would I be overlooking the final products?

As I prepared to leave the office, I wondered what kind of books Wayward Publishing was currently putting out. Betsy had mentioned something about Rick publishing a book, but I couldn't remember enough of what she said to look up the title. And I wasn't about to ask Nick.

He tried to catch me on my way out, but I walked straight past him. That didn't stop him from catching up with me in the elevator.

"I know you have a lot to think about, Kat," he said, not looking at me. "You can ask me any questions that you like. You can even stay with Leya for the next week while you get your bearings. I'm technically an owner, but I'm also the Director of my own department—you aren't confined to one role or another—"

I raised a hand, and Nick's jaw snapped closed.

"Nicholas," I said, straightening my collar, "I really don't feel like talking about this right now. I'm moving out tonight."

"Right, right," Nick said, almost sheepish. "If you want, I can help—"

I looked straight at him now. "The only thing I want from you is silence. I have a lot to think about."

He offered his help once again, but I really wasn't listening anymore. When the elevator reached the ground floor, I walked straight out to find the valet. Nick was paying for it, so at least it wasn't my bill.

When Victoria's car rolled up, I couldn't help but smile a little bit. If she was here, she must've noticed her missing vehicle. While I certainly didn't like the drama, knowing it would bother her that I'm driving her car was enough to make me feel a bit better.

I got to Nick's house before him, and I was somewhat relieved to find Victoria was not back as well.

"Erland," I called as I entered the house. "You ready to go?"

My brother bounded down the stairs, suitcases banging every step on the way. He stopped before me, breathless.

"Can we leave now?"

I chuckled. "Are you sure you got everything there, Er?" I glanced over at the suitcases behind him—one mine, one his—and how they bulged.

He bounced on the balls of his feet. "Of course! I've been packed since you left."

I smiled. "Glad to see you're excited. We can't leave until Matthew's here, though, and I don't know when he'll arrive."

Erland's eyes shot to something behind me, a bright smile stretching across his face. "I think he's here."

When I turned around, a red car had pulled into the driveway. A knock sounded at the door. I opened it.

"Matthew," I said, stepping forward, "it's so nice to see you."

He wrapped me in a hug. The clean scent of peppermint washed over me.

"It's nice to see you, too, Kat." He released me, glancing over to Erland. "Ready to go?"