Chapter 5 - The Web of Deceit
The silence that followed Brenda’s revelation was so absolute that the patter of rain against the thick storefront windows sounded like machine-gun fire.
Eleanor did not cry out. She did not faint. The shock that had momentarily weakened her knees seemed to crystallize, hardening into an icy resolve that transformed her entire posture. She stood up straight, gently patting Clara’s hand to indicate she was steady, and stepped within inches of Brenda’s pinned face.
"Speak," Eleanor commanded. The single word carried the force of an avalanche.
Brenda, realizing she had already crossed the Rubicon and that her life was utterly ruined, let the venom spill freely. "You think that car accident this morning was bad luck? Julian knew your route! He knew your driver had a heart condition—he slipped synthetic stimulants into his thermos when he visited your penthouse yesterday! He wanted you stranded, confused, wandering in the rain! He was going to petition the probate court for emergency conservatorship this afternoon!"
Arthur gasped. "The medical petition... God in heaven. Julian filed an urgent mental competency hearing with the New York Supreme Court at 9:00 AM today, claiming Mrs. Sterling was wandering the streets suffering from advanced vascular dementia!"
"And I was supposed to ensure you didn't make it back to your office before the hearing closed at 4:00 PM!" Brenda sneered, her eyes wild with malice. "Julian promised me three million dollars from the liquidated real estate assets once he took control of the trust! You were supposed to catch hypothermia! You were supposed to be found shivering in an alley like an abandoned dog!"
"And Clara?" Eleanor asked softly, her gaze flicking to the terrified young woman standing behind her. "Where did she fit into your grand design?"
"She was just a stupid, worthless peasant!" Brenda spat. "I told her to stay out of it! If she hadn't dragged you inside, if she hadn't wrapped you in that damn coat, you would have collapsed on the pavement before your security ever tracked your phone! She ruined everything! Everything!"
Clara stood stunned, her hands over her mouth. She had thought she was simply saving an old woman from freezing to death. She had no idea she had walked directly into the gears of a multi-million-dollar assassination and corporate coup.
Eleanor slowly closed her eyes. A single tear escaped her left eye, tracing a solitary path down her wrinkled cheek, before she wiped it away with the sleeve of Clara’s blue wool coat.
"Arthur," Eleanor said, her voice dropping into a chilling, administrative calm.
"Yes, Mrs. Sterling?"
"Call the District Attorney. Call the Commissioner of the NYPD. And call my private physician to run a full toxicological screen on my driver’s thermos immediately."
"Right away, ma'am."
"And Arthur?"
"Yes, Mrs. Sterling?"
"Where is Julian right now?"
Arthur checked a secondary monitor on his wrist. "According to the corporate GPS and his calendar schedule... he is currently riding in his town car, turning onto this very block. He believes Brenda has successfully contained the situation and is arriving to 'discover' your tragic state."
A grim, merciless smile touched the corners of Eleanor Sterling’s mouth.
May you like
"Splendid," she whispered. "Clara, my dear... would you be so kind as to make three cups of that peppermint tea you promised me? We have family arriving."
***
