All Chapters of I Bought Her Freedom, She Stole My Heart: Chapter 31

The week after the hearing was, unexpectedly, a Tuesday.Not metaphorically. Literally — the Monday after was full enough with the aftermath of legal resolution, board communications, Daniel's careful management of the press response to the dismissed challenge. The Tuesday that followed was simply a Tuesday. No hearing scheduled. No assessors. No Marcus filing anything or calling anyone or appearing in lobbies and bookstores and family homes with the patient menace of someone who had mistaken persistence for entitlement.Just Tuesday. Grey morning. Coffee preheating.I stood at the window and realized I did not know what to do with this.Sophia appeared at seven. She looked at me looking at the window and did the assessment she did with most things — brief, thorough, accurate."You don't know what to do without something to manage," she said."That's reductive.""Is it wrong?"I turned from the window. "No."She poured h