Page 71 of The Brutal Arrangement

What’s next?

Standing in front of me, he lifted his chin and looked down at me. “Did you see it?”

I arched one brow. “See what?”

He looked around, seeming to search for something. “Where’s your phone?”

I shrugged. “On the table, where you left it.” I’d of course noticed that it had been picked up—not by me, though. He’d left it on and set it on the table, where it remained. I didn’t dare touch it. If this was a test to see if I’d contact someone, I’d pass it with flying colors. I had no oneto call or contact. Katerina wouldn’t come through for me. My mom was being relocated. There was no one else.

Without a word, he walked over to the coffee table and retrieved it. When he came back to me, he held it up to be unlocked via facial recognition, then tapped on the screen.

“This was shared with your cloud yesterday.” He rotated his hand to show me the screen. “Last night.”

I furrowed my brow, watching the small screen with the cracked corner. I’d never been able to afford a replacement, and it worked fine enough, anyway. On the screen, I watched the video of my mother resting in a bed. Pale-blue and gray walls showed behind her with a decorative trim. It wasn’t the dingy, water-stained white that I was familiar with at her nursing home. The cover over her was clean and smooth, looking so soft and warm. This was a new linen set without holes and clear wear and tear on it.

Plush carpet spread beneath the bed, not the chipped and mismatched linoleum tiles.

This was the state-run place? It seemed too nice.

“What is this?” I asked, wary as I looked back again and watched my mother resting peacefully.

“Dream Garden. Your mother was found at her last place and moved here to their last VIP suite.”

My eyes bugged out. I dropped my jaw and glanced at him. Shock didn’t begin to cover what I was struck with. “She’s at the Dream Garden facility?”

He nodded once, not smiling, not budging.

“But Katerina didn’t—” I clamped my lips shut, puzzling it out quickly.

No, Katerina clearly hadn’t covered my mom’s bills. Buthehad.

“It seems that she tried to pay on the account, but her payment was redacted.”

I narrowed my eyes, nervous to just believe what he told me. “How do you know this?”

“I had my men look into this situation.”

“To see if I was lying?” I didn’t care if he thought I was being too sassy.

“Of course. If you expect me to worry about hurting your feelings, just know that I won’t. Not when it comes to my family’s security. Trust is earned. It’s curated and maintained. I will not apologize for being concerned about your lying to me when you came hereasa lie.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, holding in any retort that might’ve blurted out. He wasn’t wrong. Katerina and I had lied like that, but it was old news now. I had explained the switch that first day.

“I had my men look into your mother’s situation, and we discovered a failed payment from a source that was likely Katerina. I’ve since cleared the debts and had her moved into Dream Garden, which is reputed to be the best of the best.”

“Why?” I wouldn’t hold on to these hurt feelings that he would so instantly assume I was a liar. I had to focus on what mattered. My mom was in a better place, thanks to him. But I didn’t see why he’d do that when he clearly didn’t care about me.

“Why what?”

“Why did you take over her care and have her moved to a better place?”

He stared at me for a long moment, making me impatient for his reply. Finally, he said, “Because you are my wife.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m yourthing. I’m your woman to fuck and walk away from. You don’t care about me. So, why would you care about what matters to me?”

Again, he stuck with that silent treatment. His cool stares wouldn’t break me now.

I stood, needing an answer.

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