“She took forty thousand dollars that belonged to you, Sarah.”

“And she spent it buying Derek four more months of breathing room,” I said.

“It changed nothing for his business, and it cost her everything with me.”

Brenda got up from the crate and wiped her tape-sticky palms on her slacks.

“You handled this morning with more dignity than anyone in that stadium expected.”

“I handled it the only way that let me walk off that stage clean,” I said.

She picked up her clipboard and looked at me with a quiet, steady expression.