Page 75 of Their Arrangement

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A Post-it note.

Tight handwriting.

Fix it. – B

No explanation.

No signature.

Just the letter.

And the implication that Barron had been watching the whole time.

I sat down.

Straightened my skirt.

Tucked my ribbon beneath the collar.

And opened the file again.

Because there was no door here that closed all the way.

And no one who wouldn’t open it whenever they wanted.

10

CLOE

I didn’t touchthe Post-it right away.

I just stared at it.

The handwriting was too clean to be rushed. Too sharp to be gentle.

Fix it. – B

It wasn’t a request.

It wasn’t even a reprimand.

It was a pulse check.

Are you still useful, little girl?

Or should we dress you in something tighter and silence you for good?

I peeled the note off and folded it slowly between my fingers. Set it in the drawer I never used. The one where I kept other things that weren’t mine. Then I opened the spreadsheet.

And started over.

At first, my hands were too fast. Clumsy. I made three more mistakes in the first three rows.Then I stopped.

Closed my eyes.

Breathed.

Not deep—the corset still wouldn’t allow it—but enough.

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