Chapter 3 - Eleanor Knew About the Pregnancy
The ceremony was postponed.
Not canceled.
Not yet.
Victoria’s father, Senator Andrew Cross, moved guests toward cocktails
while the immediate families gathered inside the library.
I almost left.
Then Jonathan asked me to stay.
Not ordered.
Asked.
That difference mattered.
The boys went with my nanny to a private sitting room.
I did not want them turned into exhibits while adults argued over their
existence.
Inside the library, Jonathan faced his mother.
“You knew.”
Eleanor denied it.
I reached into my handbag.
Five years earlier, after leaving Chicago, I received a letter from the
Vance family legal office.
It stated that any future claim involving “pregnancy, paternity,
inheritance, or alleged descendants” would be considered an attempt to
extort the family.
At the time, I thought it was a generic intimidation tactic.
Now I put the letter on the table.
Jonathan read it.
His hands began shaking.
“I never authorized this.”
Eleanor looked at me.
“You were unstable after the separation.”
I laughed once.
“Pregnant. I was pregnant.”
Jonathan looked at the signature.
It belonged to Martin Vale, the Vance family attorney.
He had died two years earlier.
But someone had instructed him.
Jonathan asked his mother directly.
“Did Claire tell you she was pregnant?”
Eleanor finally sat down.
“She sent a medical notice to the estate.”
I stopped breathing.
I had not.
Then I remembered.
My obstetrician’s office had mailed insurance paperwork to the old Vance
address because I had not yet changed everything.
Eleanor had opened it.
Jonathan whispered:
“You knew I had children.”
“No. I knew she claimed to be pregnant.”
“I never claimed anything to you.”
Eleanor ignored me.
She told Jonathan she believed the pregnancy might not be his.
“Based on what?”
Silence.
Then Richard Hale spoke from near the fireplace.
“Based on the report.”
I looked at him.
“What report?”
May you like
Richard’s expression told me the answer would change more than the
wedding.
