Chương 8
But it was direct.
Eleanor nodded slowly.
“He was my husband’s closest business partner.”
A few people exchanged glances.
Mara looked confused.
She knew Eleanor’s husband had died years ago.
Everyone in the city seemed to know that.
His name was on buildings.
His photographs were displayed at charity events.
But nobody had ever mentioned him around Mara.
“Why would his bracelet be connected to this?” Rachel asked.
Eleanor looked toward Marcus.
He looked away.
That was the answer before anyone spoke.
“Marcus.”
He did not respond.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, he did.
“When was James Harrington’s bracelet added to the display?”
Marcus took a breath.
“Two days ago.”
“Why?”
“It was part of the anniversary exhibit.”
“The anniversary of what?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The company merger.”
Eleanor’s expression changed.
“The merger that my husband signed before he died.”
“Yes.”
“And the same merger where Thomas Bell found irregularities.”
Marcus said nothing.
Rachel wrote another note.
Mara looked at Eleanor.
The older woman seemed suddenly farther away.
Not physically.
Something else.
Like part of her was standing in a different room.
A different year.
A different life.
Angela noticed.
“You did not know?”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Know what?”
“That something was wrong.”
The question was not cruel.
That made it harder.
Eleanor looked down at her hands.
“I knew there were disagreements.”
“Between your husband and Thomas Bell?”
“Yes.”
“What did you think they were about?”
Eleanor did not answer immediately.
“I thought they were about money.”
“And now?”
“Now I think they were about trust.”
The room became quieter.
Mara had spent most of her life believing rich people had fewer problems.
They had bigger houses.
Better clothes.
People who answered their calls.
But standing there, watching Eleanor struggle with something nobody else could see, Mara wondered if having more things only meant having more things to lose.
Rachel stepped toward the evidence table.
“I need everyone connected to this foundation to remain available.”
Marcus gave a sharp breath.
“You cannot seriously believe I stole from the foundation.”
Rachel looked at him.
“I did not say that.”
The response irritated him.
Because it gave him nothing to fight against.
Rachel continued.
“I said I need information.”
Marcus looked toward Eleanor.
“You are allowing this.”
Eleanor met his eyes.
“Yes.”
The disappointment on his face was almost personal.
“I thought you trusted me.”
Eleanor’s expression tightened.
“I did.”
The honesty surprised him.
“I trusted you for a long time.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because trust is not a reason to ignore evidence.”
Marcus looked around the room.
At the guests.
At the staff.
At the people who had spent the last hour watching his authority disappear.
“You are destroying this foundation.”
Eleanor’s voice stayed calm.
“No.”
She looked at the evidence bag.
“Someone else started doing that long before tonight.”
Marcus left the conversation after that.
Not because he had won.
Because he no longer controlled it.
Rachel asked the guests to wait in smaller groups while she collected statements.
The ballroom slowly changed.
The music stopped.
The candles continued burning.
The expensive decorations remained exactly where they had been placed.
But the meaning of the room had changed.
Mara sat with Angela near the edge of the ballroom.
A server brought them water.
Neither of them touched it at first.
“You should have told me,” Mara said.
Angela looked at her.
“I know.”
“No.”
Mara stared at the glass in her hands.
“You always say that when you want the conversation to end.”
Angela looked hurt.
The observation was too accurate.
“I was scared.”
Mara looked up.
Her mother rarely admitted that.
Adults usually dressed fear up as something else.
Stress.
Responsibility.
Being busy.
But not fear.
“Of what?”
Angela looked around the room.
“Of people with more power than me deciding my life.”
Mara did not answer.
Because she understood that feeling.
She had felt it when everyone watched her beside the fountain.
Angela reached for her hand.
“I should have told you about the man who approached you.”
“Yes.”
“I should have taken it seriously.”
“Yes.”
The agreement hurt.
But it was also honest.
Angela squeezed her fingers.
“I am sorry.”
Mara looked at their hands.
After a moment, she squeezed back.
Not because everything was fixed.
It was not.
But because she knew her mother was trying.
Eleanor stood several feet away speaking with Rachel.
Daniel approached slowly.
“I need to tell you something.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“About the transfers?”
“No.”
He looked toward Mara and Angela.
“About Mara.”
Eleanor frowned.
“What about her?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“The reason Marcus was so quick to accuse her.”
Eleanor waited.
“Was not only because she was near the bracelet.”
“Then why?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Because he knew her name.”
Eleanor stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“Marcus asked me about her before tonight.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“Why?”
“I do not know.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“Daniel.”
“I am telling you what I know.”
“What exactly did he ask?”
Daniel looked toward the floor.
“He asked if Angela Ellis had a daughter.”
The words settled slowly.
Mara’s mother looked up from across the room.
She had heard her name.
Eleanor turned back to Daniel.
“Why would he ask that?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I do not know.”
“But you did not tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Because I thought it was personal.”
“That is not an answer.”
He sighed.
“Because I knew if I brought you every strange thing Marcus said, you would start looking.”
“And?”
“And I was afraid of what you would find.”
Eleanor looked at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she walked toward Mara.
The girl saw her coming.
Something about Eleanor’s face told her this was not another apology.
This was something heavier.
“Mara.”
“Yes?”
“I need to ask you about your father.”
Mara’s expression changed immediately.
Her mother went still.
“What does he have to do with this?”
Eleanor looked at Angela.
May you like
“I do not know.”
That answer made everyone uncomfortable.
