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"This is blackmail I'll tell my lawyer,"

"You don't have to tell hio forith all the rest of this and you don't have to sip the paper if you don't want to Suit yourself," she said gathering up the papers and putting them back in her folder

"Listen," I said in a voice of calm reason, "I'll have Mr Saner contact you and your attorneys and you can work out whatever compromise you want and I'll leave"

"With that boy?"

"What's that matter to you?"

"If you think he won't go and make trouble afterward, you're an even worse dreamer than your mother The moment he marries you, he'll hire an attorney to sue me and start all this over," she said

"No, he won't I promise"

"Promises Do you knohat promises made by women such as you are? Cotton candy Dreams and illusions followed by dramatic proclaan has made me a thousand promises if she's made one and not one has ever been followed or come true"

"I'm not Mean!" I cried She stared a moment

"Yes, you are" she said She looked around the room and at the bed as if Austin were still beside me Then she looked at my naked shoulders and into my eyes and repeated "Yes, you are"

She put the power-of-attorney document on the bed with a pen beside it

"Sign it and I'll put all these other documents on the shelf "I'll be back in ten minutes" she added and left

I sat there, feeling as if all the blood in my body had drained to my feet I was actually so dizzy I had to lower my head to the pillow for a few moments and take deep breaths

Of course, she rong about Austin I thought, but she was too paranoid and distrusting to believe in any guarantees I ht elbow and looked at the paper she had left This will never end until she gets her ith this I thought I was tired of fighting with her Anyway, how could I let her destroy Austin's reputation and his uncle's business?

I took the pen in hand I feared I was signing a deal with the devil