Through the glass, I could see Graham sitting at the long mahogany table.

He was wearing a fresh suit, but his tie was slightly crooked.

He was talking rapidly to his lawyer, gesturing with his hands.

Gloria sat beside him, her chin held high, her pearls gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

A representative from Apex Bank, a man named Henderson, sat at the head of the table with a stack of loan documents.

Sterling reached for the door handle.

“Wait,” I said, stopping him.

“Let me go in first.”

“I want to see his face when the door opens.”

I pushed the heavy glass door open.

The soft hiss of the hydraulic hinge drew every eye in the room toward me.

Graham stopped mid-sentence, his hand frozen in the air.

His eyes widened, his mouth remaining slightly open.

Beside him, Gloria stiffened, her hand flying instinctively to the double strand of pearls at her throat.

“Jocelyn?” Graham said, his voice cracking slightly before he corrected his pitch. “What on earth are you doing here?”

I did not answer him immediately.