Chapter 22 - AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER
While attending a charity luncheon at the Hay-Adams Hotel in D.C., Clara noticed a familiar figure sitting in a quiet corner booth.
It was Evelyn Vance, Eleanor's estranged younger sister who had disappeared from society twenty years prior following a family feud.
Evelyn was seventy-two, wearing a modest grey suit, sipping tea while observing Clara with intense, sharp curiosity.
Clara excused herself from her table, walking calmly over to Evelyn's booth with her signature dignified posture.
"Aunt Evelyn? I didn't expect to see you in Washington," Clara said softly, offering a polite, respectful smile.
Evelyn looked up, her piercing blue eyes identical to Eleanor's, but lacking the cruel, arrogant malice that defined her sister.
"Sit down, Clara. I've been watching your career with great interest," Evelyn invited, gesturing to the velvet seat.
Clara sat down, placing her black smartphone on the white tablecloth as a waiter served fresh hot tea.
"You did what none of us had the courage to do twenty years ago—you broke Eleanor's grip on the family," Evelyn murmured.
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"Eleanor was a tyrant because the family allowed her to be one, Evelyn," Clara replied evenly.
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