Chapter 4 - The Mother They Wanted Declared Incompetent
Eleanor Vale was sitting upright in her hospital bed when I arrived.
Her ankle was wrapped in a medical boot.
A small vase of white roses stood beside her.
She looked entirely different from the frightened woman I'd found in the rain.
Her silver hair was neatly brushed.
Her face was clean.
She wore a soft cream cardigan.
But when she saw me, her expression changed immediately.
"Megan."
I stopped in the doorway.
"Hello, Mrs. Vale."
She smiled.
"Eleanor."
I approached.
"How's your ankle?"
"Annoying."
I laughed.
"Good."
She held out her hand.
I took it.
For several seconds, she studied my face.
Then she whispered:
"Did Frank fire you?"
I nodded.
Her expression hardened.
"I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"You didn't fire me."
"No."
She squeezed my hand.
"But my company allowed a man like that to hurt you."
I didn't know what to say.
Then I remembered something.
"How did you know about Ava?"
Eleanor looked embarrassed.
"I was at Harbor and Vine two weeks ago."
I frowned.
"You were?"
She nodded.
"Without anyone knowing who I was."
She explained that she'd received an anonymous letter about missing gratuities.
Rather than alert the executives immediately, she'd visited the restaurant as an ordinary customer.
She sat near the service station.
Watched.
Listened.
And saw me pull a small photograph from my apron.
Ava.
Her first-grade school picture.
"I heard you telling Sofia about her birthday," Eleanor said.
I stared.
"You remembered?"
"Of course."
She smiled sadly.
"You said she wanted pink shoes with little stars."
My eyes filled.
I looked away.
Eleanor continued.
"I wanted to help, but I needed to understand what was happening before making promises."
I looked at her.
"Then why were you alone last night?"
Her expression changed.
She looked toward the door.
Then lowered her voice.
"Because Victor has been controlling my schedule."
My stomach tightened.
"Your nephew?"
She nodded.
"For months, he's been telling Julian I'm forgetful."
"Are you?"
She gave me a look.
"I'm seventy-six, Megan. I occasionally forget where I put my reading glasses. That doesn't mean I can't understand my own bank statements."
I almost smiled.
She continued.
"Victor arranged appointments I didn't request. He kept insisting I should give him voting authority while I recovered from an illness last winter."
"What illness?"
"Pneumonia."
I frowned.
"That's why you were afraid of the hospital?"
"Partly."
She looked down.
"Victor told me the next time I was hospitalized, the family would have no choice but to appoint someone to manage my affairs."
I stared.
"Can he do that?"
"Not simply because he says so."
She smiled faintly.
"But he can make my life miserable trying."
I sat beside her.
"Why didn't you tell Julian?"
Eleanor's eyes filled.
"Because Victor told me Julian agreed."
My stomach tightened.
"Did he?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then the door opened.
Julian entered.
He stopped when he saw me.
"Megan."
I stood.
"I should go."
"No," Eleanor said immediately.
Julian looked at his mother.
Then at me.
"Please stay if you're comfortable."
I hesitated.
Then sat again.
Julian approached the bed.
"Mother, Victor's attorney has filed a petition."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"I know."
"He claims you're suffering from cognitive decline."
She looked at him.
"And what do you believe?"
Julian went still.
"Mother."
"Answer me."
He looked down.
"I believed you were having memory problems."
Eleanor's face crumpled.
I looked away.
Julian continued quickly.
"Victor showed me medical summaries."
"From who?"
"Your private physician."
"I never authorized him to share those with Victor."
Julian stopped.
Eleanor looked at her son.
"Did you ever ask me?"
Silence.
"Did you ever sit down and ask whether I was all right?"
Julian swallowed.
"No."
Eleanor's eyes filled.
"You believed him."
Julian sat slowly.
"Yes."
For the first time, the powerful billionaire looked like a little boy who'd disappointed his mother.
Eleanor turned toward the window.
"Your father spent thirty years building that company."
Julian looked down.
"And I spent another twenty keeping it alive."
She touched the blanket.
"Now Victor wants to take it because I'm old."
Julian's expression hardened.
"I won't let him."
Eleanor looked back.
"Don't protect me by making decisions for me."
He stopped.
She continued.
"Help me make my own."
Julian nodded slowly.
"All right."
I watched them.
A mother and son.
Both powerful.
Both hurt.
Both apparently manipulated by the same man.
Then Eleanor looked at me.
"Megan, do you remember the gold pendant?"
I nodded.
"The crest."
She reached beneath her cardigan.
The necklace was still there.
She removed it.
Then opened the tiny clasp at the back.
Something slipped into her palm.
A miniature memory card.
I stared.
"What's that?"
Her expression changed.
"Proof."
Julian leaned forward.
"Of what?"
Eleanor looked at her son.
"Victor has been stealing from the company."
He froze.
She continued.
"And when Frank realized I was collecting evidence, he tried to stop me leaving Harbor and Vine."
I stared.
"What happened?"
Eleanor took a breath.
"I went through the rear exit because Frank was following me."
She looked toward the window.
"I slipped while trying to cross the street."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"Why didn't you call me?"
Eleanor whispered:
"Because Victor told me you already knew."
She placed the memory card into his hand.
Julian stared.
Then his phone rang.
Victor.
Julian answered.
"What?"
He listened.
His expression changed.
Then he looked at Eleanor.
"No."
A pause.
"My mother is not signing anything."
He ended the call.
I stared.
"What did he say?"
Julian's face went cold.
"Victor has called an emergency board meeting."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Eleanor looked at him.
Julian continued.
"He plans to suspend my authority as CEO while the trust dispute is reviewed."
I stared.
"Can he do that?"
Julian looked toward the memory card.
"He thinks he can."
Then Eleanor smiled.
It wasn't a warm smile.
May you like
It was the expression of a woman who had spent fifty years building an empire.
"Then perhaps," she said quietly, "it's time my nephew learned why I still own fifty-one percent of it."
