CANDICE.
"Do we have a deal?"
I looked at her across the desk. She still sat there with that practiced composure, convinced she held every card and that I would eventually fold.
"No," I said.
Elaine blinked. “Candice, you cannot be serious. If you refuse me, I will call my father tonight. He learns everything. Your real identity. Where you have been hiding. The children. Everything you have built here will be gone.”
“Go ahead,” I replied. “Make the call.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “You are really willing to risk all of it? Just like that?”
“Yes. Just like that.”
Elaine leaned forward, her voice sharpening. “You knew I recognized you at the gate. You have been watching me for two days, waiting to see if I would expose you.”
“I knew from the moment you walked through,” I said.
