Chapter 10 - The Phone Call That Changed Everything
The definitive turning point arrived three nights before the scheduled wedding date. The grand mansion had grown eerily quiet; the wedding planners had packed up their portfolios, the high-society friends had departed, and the staff had retired to their quarters.
Eleanor was organizing books in the dark-paneled private study when she heard Khloe’s sharp voice echoing from the adjoining terrace doors. Khloe was pacing back and forth on the stone patio, talking on her mobile phone, completely unaware that Eleanor was standing just inside the heavy velvet curtains.
At first, the conversation sounded like standard wedding chatter. But then, Khloe’s tone shifted into something chillingly transactional.
“Oh, the wedding can’t come soon enough,” Khloe laughed, a sharp, cynical sound devoid of any real warmth. “Once the papers are officially signed, everything falls into place.”
Eleanor froze, her hand hovering over a leather-bound volume.
“The penthouse properties in Manhattan, the private aviation trust, the corporate investment portfolios,” Khloe listed off, her voice dripping with greedy excitement. “Adrien’s mother is getting older anyway; once we take full control of the board seats, the entire Kingston empire is basically ours.”
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A chilling silence followed on the line before Khloe delivered the sentence that sealed her fate forever: “Adrien is a good man... honestly, sometimes he’s just too stupidly trusting. He believes every single word I say without a second thought.”
Eleanor closed her eyes, a profound wave of cold fury rushing through her veins. Khloe wasn't preparing for a marriage out of love; she was orchestrating a hostile corporate takeover disguised as a wedding.
