“I didn’t take that ring.”
“I know what you’re saying.”
“You know me.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“The access record is a problem.”
“Then call the police.”
He looked surprised.
“I mean it. Let them investigate. I have nothing to hide.”
His eyes dropped.
“It isn’t really about the police.”
And suddenly, I understood.
“No.”
“Rachel—”
“Please.”
He sighed.
“Corporate is extremely sensitive about theft accusations, especially when a guest has a large public following.”
My throat closed.
“I have two little girls.”
He looked away.
“Their father died less than a year ago. This is our only income.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Three months ago, I found six hundred dollars under a mattress upstairs.”
He nodded.
“I remember.”
“I turned in every dollar.”
“I know.”
“You wrote a note saying I was an example to the staff.”
“I remember.”
“Then how does one accusation erase everything you know about me?”
Mr. Bennett didn’t answer.
That silence was his answer.
I was fired that afternoon.
Nothing had been proven.
No ring had been found.
Nobody had caught me stealing anything.
But Vanessa walked away satisfied.
And I walked out of the hotel without a job.
My final paycheck wasn’t enough to cover even half my rent after daycare and taxes.
I stood at the bus stop doing the math.
Then I realized I couldn’t bear sitting on a bus trying not to cry in front of strangers.
So I walked.
It was a long walk.
That gave me plenty of time to be terrified.
When I reached daycare, Emma came running toward me with only one shoe.
“Mommy!”
Lucy followed.
They both crashed into my arms.
I squeezed them too tightly.
“Too much squish,” Lucy complained.
I loosened my hold.
“Sorry, baby.”
That night, I made boxed macaroni and cheese.
I asked about their day.
I laughed when I was supposed to.
I pretended everything was normal.
They believed me.
After they fell asleep, I sat on the kitchen floor.
Daniel used to sit there when the twins were babies.
Sometimes during those endless nights when neither girl would sleep, he’d sit against the cabinets holding a bottle because the cold tile helped his back.
I stared at the empty space beside me.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
The apartment stayed silent.
The next morning, my phone rang shortly after seven.
