Page 26 of The Wife He Accused

"It is. You've been trying to earn something you shouldn't have to earn."

Melody leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again something inside her felt clearer.

"Okay," she said.

Angelica nodded, once, like that was enough for now. "Okay."

Later,when Angelica had gone out to run errands, Melody picked up her phone. Her thumb hovered over the screen for a second before she tapped David's name. He answered on the third ring.

"Melody."

His voice was careful. Neutral in a way that told her he knew more than he was saying.

"Hi."

A pause. "How are you?"

The question was so normal it almost broke her. "I'm — I'm fine."

Another pause. He didn't push it.

"Howard?" she asked instead. "Did he —"

"I handled it. He wasn't thrilled about the disruption, but he'll take another meeting. We can reschedule."

Relief moved through her. "Thank you."

"Of course."

She hesitated. "I need to ask you something."

"Anything."

"I want to meet with him again. But not as Mrs. Winters. I want the meeting to be about the program. Not the name attached to it. Not any of that."

He was quiet. "I can set that up. But it'll be different."

"I know."

"It may be smaller."

"I know."

"It may not happen at all."

She inhaled. "I know."

Another pause. "Okay," he said. "I'll make the call."

"Thank you."

They ended the call. She set the phone down. For the first time since Thursday night, something in her life felt like it belonged to her again. Small. Fragile. But hers.

Catherine called in the afternoon. Melody watched the name light up her screen. She thought about what Angelica had said at breakfast —you've been trying to earn something you shouldn't have to earn— and she thought about the woman on the other end of the line, who had been quietly setting the terms of the earning for the better part of two years. She understood that not answering was the old version of the response. The new version was something else.

She picked up.

"Catherine."