Chapter 7 - EleanorThe woman stood perfectly still.
She was in her late sixties.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
A face that seemed almost gentle.
But her eyes were cold.
Deadly.
She lowered the gun slightly.
“I don't want to hurt you.”
“Then put it down.”
She smiled.
“You sound exactly like Evelyn.”
My grandmother.
I hated how familiar her voice sounded.
“Who are you?”
She tilted her head.
“Your grandmother's oldest enemy.”
Harold stepped in front of me.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Eleanor laughed.
“I never died.”
I looked at him.
“What happened?”
Harold's jaw tightened.
“Eleanor and Evelyn fought over the company.”
“Why?”
“Control.”
Eleanor answered for him.
“Your grandmother believed business should be governed by rules.”
She looked at Harold.
“We believed family should govern it.”
I frowned.
“And Derek?”
She smiled.
“Derek was useful.”
My husband looked at her.
“I did what you asked.”
I felt my stomach turn.
“You knew her?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Before we met.”
My heart cracked.
“Before we met?”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“He was chosen years ago.”
I stared at Derek.
“You married me because of the trust.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
The word barely escaped him.
I felt something inside me go silent.
All the pain suddenly made sense.
Not the humiliation.
Not the cruelty.
The pattern.
It had all been strategic.
Eleanor held out her hand.
“Give me the trust documents.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand enough.”
“Your grandmother stole the controlling shares.”
“She didn't steal anything.”
Eleanor smiled.
“That's what she told you.”
I stepped forward.
“My grandmother built the company.”
“She built it with my family.”
“And then?”
“She betrayed us.”
Harold laughed.
“You tried to murder her.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Only after she betrayed me.”
I stared.
“You killed my grandmother?”
“No.”
Eleanor's eyes hardened.
“She died because she made one mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted people.”
The room went silent.
Eleanor turned toward Derek.
“Your husband was supposed to secure the trust.”
“He failed.”
Derek lowered his head.
“You said she wouldn't discover the documents.”
“You underestimated your wife.”
Eleanor looked at me.
“I did too.”
Then she held out a second folder.
“You should read this.”
I took it.
Inside was a marriage certificate.
Not mine.
Derek's.
To another woman.
I stared.
“What is this?”
Derek stepped forward.
“Claire, listen.”
“Who is she?”
He said nothing.
Eleanor smiled.
“Someone Derek married before you.”
My heart stopped.
I read the date.
Three years before our wedding.
The woman's name was Lydia Cross.
I looked at Derek.
“You were already married.”
He whispered,
“It wasn't what you think.”
I laughed.
“That's what every liar says.”
Eleanor suddenly raised her gun.
Not at me.
At Derek.
“You should have told her.”
Derek froze.
“Wait.”
“You had one job.”
“Please.”
“You failed.”
She pulled the trigger.
Harold shoved Derek aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Everyone screamed.
Eleanor turned toward me.
“Now you understand.”
She lowered the gun.
“This isn't a divorce.”
May you like
She smiled.
“It's a war.”
