Chapter 9 - The Ghost in the Moonlight
Jason let out a strangled, high-pitched shriek, stumbling back against the sofa.
"No... no, no, no!" he stammered, his eyes bulging from his skull.
"I saw you fall! You hit the water!"
The glass sliding door moved open with a smooth, silent glide.
Eleanor stepped into the warm living room.
Her white hair was damp, pinned back neatly, and her dark eyes were cold, sharp, and entirely devoid of the warmth she had shown him for months.
She was not a ghost.
She was very much alive.
Standing directly behind her were four uniformed federal agents and her legal advisor, Marcus Vance.
Marcus held a tablet that was wirelessly broadcasting the drone feed straight to the precinct database.
"How... how are you alive?!" Jason gasped, pressing his back against the wall, hyperventilating.
Eleanor walked toward him with a slow, deliberate pace.
Her posture was straight, her dignity intact, the vulnerable old woman completely gone.
"You thought fifty-two years of solitude made me foolish, Jason," Eleanor said, her voice like grinding steel.
"You thought a few fake compliments and a simulated night in a hotel room would blind me to the world."
She stopped three feet from him, looking at him with profound disgust.
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"I built an empire in an era where men like you tried to destroy women like me every single day," she continued.
"Did you really believe I wouldn't investigate the background of a thirty-four-year-old man who suddenly fell in love with a seventy-nine-year-old billionaire?"
