The billing department was on the ground floor.
Lilith had been here so many times in the last three months that she knew the route without thinking. Left at the main desk. Down the corridor past the chapel. Third door on the right. The woman behind the counter....Carol, always Carol....looked up when she heard footsteps and her expression did something complicated when she saw who it was.
"Ms. Thorne."
"I'm here to settle my mother's balance," Lilith said. "In full."
Carol blinked. "In....I'm sorry?"
"In full." Lilith set the wooden box on the counter and opened it.
The silence that followed was very satisfying.
Carol looked at the gold bars. Looked at Lilith. Looked back at the gold bars with the expression of someone whose brain was trying to catch up to what her eyes were telling her.
"I'll need to have these assessed," Carol said carefully.
"I know. I'll wait."
