Chapter 4 - Maria Hides Eleanor Inside The Old Estate Coach House
The old coach house at the far edge of the twenty-acre Sterling estate was cold, dark, and smelled faintly of wet cedar wood.
Maria turned on a small yellow desk lamp, quickly wrapping Eleanor in two thick wool blankets before turning on the electric heater.
Eleanor sat on the small wooden sofa, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps as the chill of the storm settled deep into her bones.
“Maria... you must not let Victoria see that envelope,” Eleanor whispered, her trembling hand clutching Maria’s sleeve with surprising, urgent strength.
“If she knows what my late husband left inside that envelope, she will destroy Julian before he ever steps foot inside that door.”
Maria pulled the damp envelope from her apron pocket, looking down at the heavy wax seal that bore the crest of the Sterling family name.
“What is inside here, Mrs. Sterling? Why did you hide it behind the family photo for all these years?” Maria asked softly.
Eleanor closed her eyes, tears spilling down her pale, wrinkled cheeks as memories of thirty years of dark corporate secrets surfaced.
“Victoria isn't who my son thinks she is, Maria. She didn't marry Julian for love... she was sent by her father, Senator Vance.”
“My husband discovered their financial espionage eight years ago, right before his sudden car accident on the rainy highway near Hartford.”
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Maria gasped, holding her hand over her mouth as the horrifying scope of the conspiracy began to reveal its dark, twisted reality.
Outside, the beam of a heavy flashlight swept across the wet grass of the yard, approaching the coach house door with slow, deliberate steps.
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