Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
A rough exhale from Greg. “Ah damn, it’s awful what happened to that whole family. It meant a lot to Violet that Diya invited her to your engagement party even though my daughter’s retreated so much from the world.” Pain twisted through his words. “Her mum and I really thought she was going to go—we were ready to drive her, pick her up, the whole deal, but she backed out at the last minute.”
“Diya didn’t mind,” I said, though I hadn’t known that she’d invited Violet. “She just wanted Violet to know she still considers her a friend.”
“She’s been a good one,” Greg Long said. “I see the cards and little packages that come in—my girl always smiles when she sees that handwriting.” An added roughness to his voice. “Look, let me talk to Vi. I have your number now, will pass it on to her. Whether she calls or not…I can’t guarantee anything.”
But Violet Long did call, only ten minutes later. “I messaged her,” she said in a soft but melodic voice that was slightly slurred. Even as I wondered if she’d fallen into alcohol addiction after her assault, she said, “Diya. After I heard she was alive—but then they said she was in a coma? So I didn’t know if I should keep trying.”
“Her phone was in the house.”
“Oh God, of course it was. I didn’t think. Does she have a new number? I’m still in the process of working on my anxiety when it comes to going out”—a tightness there, an anger that I hoped was directed outward and not at herself—“but I’d love to talk to her.”
“I’m buying her a new phone today and will send you the number.” Having taken a seat on a bench beneath a leafy tree, I stared out at the late-afternoon traffic as I spoke to her. “Violet, I know you must’ve been asked this a thousand times over, but do you remember anything about the person who made the appointment?”
“Why?” A single sharp word heavy with new suspicion, no hint of alcohol intoxication, so maybe the slur was a speech impediment.
“I’m clutching at straws,” I said, flexing my hand on my knee. “It just seems too much of a coincidence to me that both you and Diya came under such significant attack within a space of, what, six months? Could someone have a vendetta against the two of you? An angry business rival?”
A gasp. “I didn’t even consider that.” Hearing the tremor in her voice, I knew I’d just set her therapy back months and felt like a shit.
But Violet rallied. “Honestly, I can’t think of anyone. We hadn’t officially started working together. I was much more established, so Diya was going to come on as a junior partner, and we were working out what that would look like.”
“So no meetings with clients, things like that?”
“No, it was mostly just the two of us getting together to hash things out. We already liked each other, but with a business, you need to have everything spelled out. We spent hours huddled over the table in my apartment, working on our long-term plan and where we saw the business going.”
“Why did you want to work with her when you were so much more successful?”
“I needed a partner to expand my capacity. Diya’s a bad businesswoman—and I say this with love—but as a creative, she’s a dynamo. I was prepared to handle all the business aspects for a larger share in the partnership, and she was happy to give me that larger share in order to increase her overall income.
“Please don’t think I was going to cheat her,” she rushed to add. “Diya would have tripled her income in the first year, just with the clients I already had lined up. And we’d agreed that we’d renegotiate the split three years down the road, once we saw the impact she had on the overall business. Not just a verbal agreement—it was to be part of our contract.”
Money again. Always money. Because money meant a lot of things. “Did you ever meet anyone else connected with Diya?”
“You mean her vendors? No, that would’ve come later, after we’d agreed. We’re all a little protective of our contacts.”
“No one more personal?”
“We ran into her mum once, while we were heading into a café. She seemed lovely, was excited when I mentioned how successful I thought we’d be together. It’s so sad, what’s happened.”
The teens didn’t see anyone but are sure they heard the sound of running feet.
An image flashed into my mind, of Sarita throwing me the keys to the Alfa Romeo while dressed in her running tights and top, an athletic woman who’d have no trouble outpacing a bunch of startled teens.
Chapter 64
Diya
Hi Rhi!
I can’t wait to see you! Only six more weeks! It’s going to be so fun. I don’t know if Mum will let you show me how to do makeup on myself, but I’m excited to watch you do it! It sounds so cool, the set you got for your birthday. Your mum is so nice.