“Victoria—”
“But not knowing stopped being an excuse yesterday.”
Around noon, Megan knocked gently on my office door.
“There’s someone downstairs.”
“Ethan?”
She nodded.
“He refuses to leave.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What do you recommend?”
He smiled.
“As your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t avoid him forever.”
“And as my friend?”
“Make him wait.”
“For how long?”
Daniel glanced at his watch.
“Long enough to understand what you’ve been waiting twenty-two years to receive.”
“What?”
“Respect.”
I stood and walked toward the elevator.
Not to meet Ethan.
Not yet.
First, one more document required my signature—the formal suspension of every discretionary financial benefit connected to the Bennett family.
I picked up the pen, signed my name, and returned it to the table.
Outside my office window, the Dallas skyline looked exactly the same.
Inside, everything had changed.
By the time I agreed to see Ethan, he had been sitting in my reception area for nearly three hours.
