Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside. Beth was waiting for me at the reception desk. “Phoebe, welcome. Let’s head straight inside the meeting room. Everyone’s here already.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised by that. “I’m not late, am I?”
“No, but I think everyone was very eager.”
“Right.”
I followed her down the narrow corridor. I’d never been here before. The agency’s office seemed a bit claustrophobic. The reception area was small, and there were four or five other doors in the adjacent corridor.
I sucked in a breath when we stepped into the meeting room. There was a young couple on one side of the table, and Marshall was on the other one. He didn’t even acknowledge me, and I did the same, moving forward and focusing on the couple.
“Hi,” I said. “Congratulations are in order.”
She beamed at me. “You’re so kind. Thank you. I’m Sylvie.”
He nodded. “And I’m Felton. We’re so excited to buy the house.”
“We have so many plans to restore it,” she said.
“It’s got a lot of potential,” I said, because it was true.
“Right. Well, everything is settled. This meeting is mostly ceremonial,” Beth chimed in, pulling out the documents. She showed each of us where to sign.
Marshall was still not acknowledging me, but I realized one thing: I was completely at peace. I was relieved to get this chapter over with. In the past, I was a mess around him. But sitting here, I simply felt nothing. He didn’t have the power to hurt me anymore, and it was amazing. I was free.
“All right. Now, here are the last sets of keys,” I said after signing, taking them out of my bag.
“Do you need to take anything else from the house?” Sylvie asked.
I shook my head. “No. I’m good.”
Then she turned to Marshall. “And you?” Perhaps she didn’t know our bitter history, but that was for the better. I appreciated that Beth had been discreet.
“No, I don’t have anything there,” Marshall said.
Beth rose to her feet. “All right, then. We’re done. Congratulations on your new house, Felton and Sylvie.”
She shook their hands. Marshall and I did the same.
Even though I was indifferent to him, I was eager to get out of here. Without rose-colored glasses on any longer, I realized that Marshall wasn’t someone I wanted to be around. In the past, I’d made excuses for him. But I knew better now—he wasn’t a good person.
As we exited the meeting room, Felton and Sylvie walked in front of me down the narrow corridor. She was giddy with laughter. I had a flashback of when Marshall and I first got the house and how I’d felt the exact same way. I’d been in love with all the possibilities it held. Was it their starter home, or did they just want to flip it? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t my business. I was just ecstatic that this had gone off without a hitch.
And as a plus, I was going to see Griffin in about ten minutes. The coffee shop where he met Jude was less than a block away.
The second we stepped out of the realtor’s building, Marshall said, “I hope you’re happy!” His tone was laced with accusation and hate.
I cocked a brow at him. “Meaning?”
“You’ve got your unfair share of the profit.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake, he’s still going on with this.
“We sold at the agreed-upon price, and I am more than entitled to half of the profit.”
“Keep telling yourself that. I never took you for a vindictive person.”
I blinked. “So, giving me what’s mine by right means I’m trying to take something away from you?”
