Chapter 2 - The First Collapse
At 3:15 PM, forty-five minutes before David’s private jet was scheduled to depart from Teterboro Airport, I sat at my marble kitchen island in Greenwich, sipping Earl Grey tea.
Across the room, Teresa was loudly dictating how the house staff should reorganise the pantry. She was sixty-eight, drenched in fake pearl necklaces, and had spent the last seven years reminding me that I was "lucky" her brilliant son had settled for a woman who spent too much time reading financial ledgers instead of bearing grandchildren.
"Eleanor!" Teresa barked from the hallway, her sharp heels clicking against my white oak floors. "Tell the maid to clear out the master suite on the ground floor. My knees hurt from the stairs, and Arthur needs the garden view."
"That’s my guest suite, Teresa," I said without looking up from my tablet.
"It was your guest suite," she corrected, thrusting her chin up haughtily. "My son owns this house now. As his mother, I take priority. You would know that if you had any respect for traditional family values."
Before I could reply, the heavy silence of the mansion was broken by the frantic ringing of Teresa’s phone. She glanced at the screen, her face lighting up. "Ah, David. Calling to check on his mother before taking off for his big corporate assignment."
She put the call on speaker, tapping the screen with her manicured red nail. "David, darling! We're settling in just fine, though Eleanor is being somewhat uncooperative about the room arrangements—"
"MOTHER!" David’s voice exploded through the speaker, high-pitched, panicked, and echoing with airport background noise. "What happened to the cards?! What happened to the accounts?!"
Teresa blinked, confused. "What are you talking about, sweetie?"
"I’m at the private terminal at Teterboro!" David screamed, his controlled facade completely shattered. "I tried to pay the charter pilot! The card was declined! I tried my secondary Amex—declined! I tried to access the corporate vault on my phone and my portal has been revoked! The bank told me my access was terminated by the primary holder!"
Teresa turned her head slowly to stare at me, her mouth agape. "Eleanor? Did you... did you mess with David's cards?"
I took a deliberate, quiet sip of my tea, set the porcelain cup back on its saucer with a delicate click, and looked up.
"David," I said clearly toward Teresa's phone. "Are you enjoying Fifth Avenue?"
The line went dead silent. For five agonizing seconds, only the sound of David’s rapid breathing filtered through the speaker.
"Eleanor?" David’s voice dropped into a hollow, terrified whisper. "Where... where are you?"
"I'm in my kitchen," I replied smoothly. "Sitting across from your mother. She was just telling me how you own this house."
"Eleanor, listen to me—" David stammered, panic making his tone shrill. "There’s been a huge mistake! I was... I was buying a gift for a client at Zao Zero! The firm needed a high-end corporate incentive package—"
"Save it, David," I interrupted coldly. "Chloe Bennet has very pretty blonde hair. Though I must say, a fifteen-thousand-dollar diamond pendant is a bit extravagant for a 'corporate incentive package,' wouldn't you agree?"
Teresa gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "Chloe? Who is Chloe?!"
"David," I continued, ignoring his mother entirely. "Your bags have been removed from the charter plane. Your lease on the Tribeca penthouse was canceled twenty minutes ago. Your access to Hayes Global Logistics has been frozen by the board of directors following an emergency call from my legal team regarding corporate embezzlement."
"Eleanor, please!" David begged, his voice cracking. "Don't do this! We can talk! I'm coming home right now!"
"You don't have a home here anymore, David," I said softly. "And don't bother driving the Range Rover back. The GPS system just disabled the starter motor. You're stranded at Teterboro."
I reached across the island, tapped the red button on Teresa’s phone, and disconnected the call.
Teresa stood frozen, her eyes wide, her face completely drained of color. "You... you ruined his business trip?! You humiliated my son?!"
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I stood up slowly, drawing myself to my full height. "Teresa, your son isn't in Tokyo. He was taking his mistress to Paris on my money. And as for this house..."
I picked up my tea glass and walked toward the living room. "Pack your bags. You have two hours to get off my property."
