I Signed Away Eight Million To Leave Him Chapter 47
I took the velvet box home.
Under the light, the engraved coordinates on the back of the brooch were still sharp and clear.
I didn’t need a map to know where they pointed.
That beach was where Graham had once repaired a swing for me.
Later, he was the one who had it chopped to pieces.
Eli sat across the dining table and finished reading the authorization form.
“Want to keep it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then let it sit for a while. It won’t decide for you.”
He got up to shut the drafty kitchen window and didn’t ask me which swing I preferred.
My fingers brushed the cold silver waves.
Once, I had taken this brooch as proof that I was loved.
Later, I learned that a person can remember the coordinates of your beach, remember when to change the ice packs on your fever, and still choose to hurt you in the place that hurts most.
Objects don’t lie.
I had only given them meanings they were never meant to hold.
The next day, I called the independent organization that ran the temporary housing.
“Is the transportation fund still short?”
The director sounded startled.
“It always is. A lot of people leave without a car, and they can’t use credit cards a partner might trace.”
I looked at the brooch on the table.
“I’d like to send something to auction.”
“If it’s connected to the Vale family, naming the source might raise more.”
“Don’t name it.”
“Not even the designer?”
“Just list it as a silver wave brooch.”
The director didn’t try to persuade me.
On the authorization form, I checked *sell*.
All proceeds would go into the transportation fund.
At the bottom, I signed my name and closed the velvet box.
The brooch was nowhere near as valuable as eight million dollars.
What it sold for would never change the future of an entire organization.
But the day after the money was deposited, the transportation fund approved three long-distance bus tickets and two moving vans.
No one knew the money came from a failed engagement.
And the people who received those tickets didn’t need to thank me.
The lawyer called later.
“Mrs. Vale has received the result of your decision.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing at all.”
I nodded.
For once, she had not added any judgment to my choice.
There was still no beginning again between us.
But the brooch that had once led me back to that old beach had now become several tickets leading somewhere new.