Casting my glance over the cubicle pit, I spot many qualified, considering faces. Kimberly, I can tell, is giving it serious consideration. She’s usually typing away, even during meetings, but right now she’s staring off into space like she’s thinking things through.Unfortunately, so is Amber.I tr
“Esther,” Kimberly says. Unlike Lila, she’s actually come out of her office. Standing in front of my cubicle wall, she reaches over it to hand me a paper. On it is an idea for an honest to God legitimate article and a few bullet points she wants covered. “Get me this assignment ASAP.”“Yes, ma’am,”
Miles seems frantic, his eyes darting around. When he spots the reception desk, he storms forward.Sitting in the waiting room, I call out to him, “Miles?”Immediately he stops, spots me, and rushes to my side instead. Standing over me, he scans me with his eyes as if searching for anything out of t
“Tomorrow you are changing your emergency contact info, alright? It doesn’t have to be me, though I will gladly accept. But it needs to be someone more worthy than your errant husband.”“Okay,” I say, agreeing in full.Miles helps me load into his sports car. On the way to his place, he drives caref
Miles makes me chicken noodle soup, then hands me the bowl with a warmer around it to keep me from burning my hands.“You want crackers?” he asks, halfway to the kitchen again.“No!” I call. “This is perfect.” Truly, it was. I still can’t get over how good it feels to be cared for like this. It almo
The entire room is still and silent.Thea, seemingly annoyed by our stunned reactions, snaps, “Did you hear me? I’m pregnant! Where’s my congratulations, Esther? Where’s the joy, Garnar? Don’t you want to be a dad again? Are our kids not good enough for you?”Garnar springs to life at once. He rushe
Rushing, though not speeding, I am somehow able to get the girls to school on time and myself to work one minute to nine. I still feel late. I like to be early, giving myself enough time to prepare for the day. It still bothers me about my phone. I have it password protected, how did my alarms get r
“Don’t gloat,” I snap. “Mom and Dad believe you. You could murder someone right in front of them and they’d still blame me. You can do no wrong. You won, alright? Just leave me alone.”Thea turns up her nose. “Don’t act all high and mighty, Esther. You are just jealous that I’m having Garnar’s baby.
“We should watch the rest,” I tell him, though my voice is shaky. “No,” Miles says, more firmly. I breathe a sigh of relief. For my job, I know we have to hear it. But personally, I would like to go the rest of my life without even thinking about Edward Zimmer again. “The numbers are already u
Edward’s response comes in the form of a video message. Crystal set it up on the television on the wall, while Miles and I huddle closer to the screen. Miles holds tightly onto my hand. “Whatever happens. Whatever he says. We will stand against him and we will win,” he says. I believe him. Last
How could I say anything but yes? A thousand times over, yes, yes, yes. I’ve tried so hard since that first night, sleeping with Miles while thinking him a call boy, to not fall in love with him. Yet, as hard as I tried not to, my heart kept pulling me straight back to him. My love for Miles is so
We hold the press conference in front of the headquarters, setting up a podium outside the double doors. The news media organizations have been notified, so they send reporters and cameramen, who have set up around the podium. The release we sent out already told them that the conference would be
Later, I’m going to have to have a meeting and call in all the employees to discuss this. Their care is appreciated, but I need to be able to do my job. For now, though, it seems as if Crystal gets the hint. With a shallow nod, she continues her report. “Mr. Zimmer has been quiet since the inter
Garnar, knowing I was giving a difficult interview tonight, offered to watch the kids. Since they are at Garnar’s house, I expected the house to be empty when I finally returned. Instead, I see Miles’s car parked in my driveway and the additional security staked out around the premises. It’s a rel
Jean was warned about the story, but she still gasped. My eyes went a little wide. We came here to talk about this, but Daphne’s direct wording leaves me speechless. Daphne didn’t come here just to tell a story. She was ready to reveal her truth, once and for all. “Esther and I were victims,” Da
In the Harbinger HQ, in one of the studio sets arranged to look like a fancy living room, Daphne and I sit side by side on a white couch, facing an interviewer, a woman interviewer named Jean, who sits on an arm chair facing us. The setting is intimate, and Jean is a kind, middle-aged woman, who i
“Miles…” Emotion overflows within my heart. There are so many things I want to say, to express – my gratitude, my own affections, explanations about why this has been so difficult for me to accept – yet in the moment, everything gets tangled up in my throat. “Miles…” My tears fall from my chee