PART 6: THE matriarch’S CALL
The kitchen clock ticked loudly on the wall.
I held the phone tight against my ear, my posture instantly straightening.
"Eleanor," I said, my voice dropping into a flat, emotionless tone.
"I see you had a little victory in court this morning," Eleanor said.
She sounded completely unbothered.
No anger. No panic.
Just the calm, superior tone of a woman who owned half the commercial real estate on the West Coast.
"It wasn't a victory for me, Eleanor," I replied. "It was justice for Lily and Noah."
Eleanor let out a short, dry chuckle on the other end.
"Justice is an expensive illusion, my dear. Daniel was weak. I cut him loose because he became a liability to the family brand. Vacationing in Monaco while his wife was in labor? Foolish."
"He drained their nursery fund," I hissed, the anger rising in my throat before I forced it down.
"A minor sum," Eleanor dismissed it instantly. "But don't think for one second that because you broke my son, you have broken me."
I stood taller, looking out the kitchen window at the grey Portland sky.
"I don't care about breaking you, Eleanor. I care about keeping you away from my children."
"That's where you are mistaken, Claire."
The line went quiet for a beat.
I could hear the faint clink of a porcelain teacup on her end.
"The Whitmore bloodline does not belong in a rental house in the suburbs," Eleanor said softly. "You may have sole custody today. But the forensic audit your little friend Victor Hayes is running into my corporate accounts? It touches things it shouldn't."
My breath caught.
"What did you do, Eleanor?"
"I didn't do anything," she sneered. "But if Victor publishes that report, I will destroy your father's remaining estate. Every single asset he left behind in that trust will dissolve in litigation before the month is over."
She paused.
"Choose your next move wisely, Claire. A mother should have a home she can actually afford."
The line went dead.
I slowly lowered the receiver.
Marianne walked into the kitchen, her face pale.
May you like
"What did she say?"
"She knows about Victor’s audit," I whispered.
