in for two hours already and still didn’t feel like getting up.
Two days had passed since she’d stormed out of Kai’s office, crying tears of disappointment, heartbreak, and anger. The drama she’d expected to immediately follow hadn’t materialized. There had been no calls from him. No sudden appearance at her building.
And she hadn’t contacted the police, either.
All she really wanted was to wash her hands clean of the whole situation. If that meant not finishing Kai’s mural and getting the second half of her payment, then that was okay. She now realized she should have bowed out of that contract weeks ago.
Rolling onto her back, she dragged her hands down her face and blinked her eyes into focus. It was a rare day where she had no work to do, and looking at the empty hours ahead made her feel down and directionless.
No matter. She’d get up, get dressed, and go to her parents’. She’d take care of her mom and offer whatever help her dad needed.
Family. That was her purpose in life.
Before she could make a move, though, her buzzer rang.
Sitting up, she frowned. Who could that be?
Heart thudding, she trudged through the apartment. Usually, she did a decent job of keeping the place clean and organized. The last couple days had been a different story. Takeout boxes and dirty clothes littered the living room.
She hit the button to answer. “Hello?”
There was a brief pause. “Hey, it’s Brie.”
Diane sucked in a breath. Kai hadn’t been in touch, but Brie had called and texted multiple times since they last saw each other at Weiss Enterprises.
Diane hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. She had wrapped herself in a cocoon, waiting for a brighter day. Brie was well-meaning, though, and Diane felt bad about ignoring her.
“Come on up,” she said. She pressed the button to open the building’s front door, then unlocked her apartment door.
A minute later, Brie walked into the place, looking the opposite of Diane. It was a chic skirt suit to ratty sweatpants; smoky-eyed makeup to bags under the eyes.
“I’m sorry,” was the first thing Diane said. She plopped down on the couch.
“If you’re apologizing for ignoring me, thank you.” Brie closed the door and swept her gaze across the living room. “It looks like you have your hands full, though.”
Diane made a noise of agreement. “I’ve been…”
“Processing?”
“Sure.” She drew her legs up to her chest.
Brie joined her on the couch and set her designer purse on the coffee table. “Have you talked to Kai?”
“No, and he hasn’t tried to get in touch. What’s going on with you?”
“I’ve been out of town—work trip to Atlanta. I got back late last night.”
“Oh. So you haven’t been to the office yet?”
“No.” Brie smiled sympathetically. “I wanted to stop in and check on you first.”
“I’m fine,” Diane said automatically.
“You’re clearly not.” Brie delicately cleared her throat. “Have you done anything? With the information?”
“No.” She pushed her fingers through her tangled hair. “I’m not going to. I want to be done with all of this. I just want to start over. Me, the baby, my parents…we’re moving to Florida, and everything will be different there.”
One day. Everything would be different one day.
It was that bright future that she was pushing forward for.
“Diane…”
“Yes?”
Brie’s lips pursed. “You know I can’t keep this secret, right? What you discovered.”
Diane felt sick.
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“The right thing,” Brie said, “is to bring all of the info to the police. It kills me, but that’s what needs to be done. I can’t stand by and watch while Kai benefits from cheating other people.”
“I get that,” Diane said glumly.
“But I need you. I’m sure that you’ll have to give a statement and maybe even testify in court at some point.”
Diane’s breath hitched in her chest. “I…”
“I know.” Brie touched Diane’s leg. “It will be hard.”
Diane imagined sitting in a courtroom, giving her statement while the man she’d once imagined as her future sat nearby. She’d be helping put him behind bars.
Sure, he probably deserved whatever sentence he would receive. But was she capable of even showing up to a day like that?
Diane’s phone rang, and she picked it up from the coffee table.
“Sorry,” she said to Brie, then swiped the answer button. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“Is Mom there?” Trevor asked, panic in his voice.
Diane’s stomach bottomed out. “What? Of course not. Is she…”
She couldn’t even say the words.
Trevor spoke quickly. “I went down to the coffee shop while she was watching TV. When I came back