“You were happy because you were beginning to get rich,” I said. “I was just waiting for you to stop looking for something better.”

He turned around, his face twisting with a sudden, ugly anger.

“Nathan is a thief,” he spat. “He took my chair. He took my office.”

“Nathan is the new Chief Executive Officer,” I said. “The board approved his appointment twenty minutes ago.”

Victor stepped toward me, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

I did not move backward.

I stood my ground, the blue binder between us on the counter.

“Sign the papers, Victor,” I said. “The marshals are already on their way from the courthouse.”

“You wouldn’t let them take me here,” he said. “Not in this place.”

“I don’t care where they take you,” I said.

He looked at the binder, then at the pen I laid on top of it.

His hand shook as he reached out and picked up the pen.

The plastic barrel clicked against his wedding ring, which was loose on his finger.

He signed his name on the bottom line of the three copies.