Chapter 13 - Eleanor’s Version of the Last NightThey met through glass.
Secure attorney conference facility.
No children.
No physical contact.
Eleanor looked different.
No makeup.
Gray hair less styled.
No pearls.
Dominic had imagined this meeting many times.
He expected rage.
Instead, grief arrived.
This was the woman who sat beside him through appendicitis at eleven.
Who cheered louder than anyone at graduation.
Who held him after Samantha died.
Those memories did not disappear because she became dangerous.
That was what made everything harder.
Eleanor picked up the phone.
Dominic did too.
“You look like Franklin.”
He almost hung up.
“Tell me about Samantha.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“She came to my house that afternoon.”
“Ivy says you went to our house.”
“I did.”
“Then?”
“Samantha followed me.”
Dominic frowned.
“Why?”
“She wanted the trust files.”
“Did you give them?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
He nearly laughed.
Of course.
Eleanor continued.
“She said she had enough evidence to remove me as trustee and report the transfers.”
“She should have.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stopped.
That admission sounded different.
“Then what?”
“She asked about Robert.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“I knew the platform was unsafe.”
Dominic’s hand tightened.
“Did you order Robert onto it?”
“No.”
“Samantha wrote that you challenged him to prove it.”
“I was angry.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Yes.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“You knew it might fail.”
“I knew there was a disputed anchor.”
“And you told him to go up.”
“He said nobody should be on it.”
“So you told him to prove it.”
Eleanor began crying.
“I thought he would inspect from the access point.”
“He fell.”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend that?”
“No.”
Dominic believed her.
Or wanted to.
Either way, intention no longer carried enough weight to erase conduct.
“What about Samantha?”
“She came to my house.”
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She took copies.”
“Of the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Did you try to stop her car?”
“No.”
“Did you drive close?”
Eleanor looked down.
“Too close.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“Flash lights?”
“Yes.”
“Horn?”
“Yes.”
“Pull beside her?”
“Once.”
Dominic stared.
Rain.
Dark highway.
His wife scared.
“What happened?”
“She sped up.”
“And?”
“I fell behind.”
“Did you see the crash?”
Eleanor started shaking.
“Yes.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“Were you behind her?”
“Several car lengths.”
“What happened?”
“She changed lanes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you touch her car?”
“No.”
“Did you force her?”
“No.”
“Did you stop?”
Eleanor cried harder.
“Yes.”
Dominic stared.
Police records had no Eleanor listed.
“I pulled over farther back.”
“Why didn’t you help?”
“Other cars stopped.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I panicked.”
His eyes hardened.
“You watched my wife crash and hid.”
“Yes.”
“Then you came to the hospital and held me.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Dominic felt nauseated.
“You let me thank you for being there.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You let Ivy think Marta drove her to Tessa’s.”
“I didn’t know what Ivy remembered.”
“You tried to find out.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The sofa.
Caleb pinned.
Questions about Ivy’s memory.
There.
“Why were you so afraid of what Ivy remembered?”
“Because she was in the car when Samantha confronted me earlier.”
“You thought she might place you behind Samantha.”
“Yes.”
“Would that prove murder?”
“No.”
“Then why terrorize children?”
Eleanor sobbed.
“Because everything was collapsing.”
Dominic stared.
“Not everything.”
She looked at him.
“Your control was.”
Silence.
He continued.
“What did Samantha ask you to keep from me?”
Eleanor hesitated.
Dominic’s patience thinned.
“You asked for this meeting.”
“She told me…”
Eleanor looked ashamed.
“That she had considered leaving you.”
Dominic went still.
“When?”
“The year before she died.”
“Why?”
“Because you were never home.”
Pain hit cleanly.
Not because Eleanor said it.
Because Dominic knew it was possible.
“Did she?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“She said she decided against it.”
“Why tell you?”
“She wanted me to stop threatening her with the idea.”
Dominic frowned.
Eleanor had threatened to make him believe Samantha planned to leave.
Samantha responded by telling Eleanor a partial truth?
“She said she had met with a divorce attorney once.”
Dominic’s throat tightened.
“Did she have an affair?”
“No.”
Immediate.
He stared.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Evan?”
“No.”
“She loved you.”
Dominic looked away.
“Love doesn’t mean people stay.”
“No.”
Eleanor’s voice softened.
“She said Caleb and Ivy deserved parents who chose honesty before resentment.”
Dominic nearly broke.
Samantha had considered leaving because of his absence.
Then chose to stay and try.
She never got the chance.
“Why keep that from me now?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“I wasn’t protecting you now.”
“Then why mention it?”
“Because you think Samantha was perfect and I was the monster.”
Dominic stared.
“There.”
“What?”
“You still need someone else to be lowered before you can tell the truth about yourself.”
Eleanor flinched.
Dominic continued:
“Samantha could have wanted divorce.”
He swallowed.
“She could have lied to me.”
His eyes filled.
“That does not make what you did smaller.”
Eleanor looked down.
For once, she had no counterargument.
“Where is the missing trust money?”
She gave him an account.
Offshore custody platform.
Controlled through a dormant company.
Naomi later confirmed.
$1.37 million remained.
Recoverable.
Dominic looked at his mother through the glass.
“Why tell me?”
“I’m done.”
He almost smiled sadly.
“You said that because you got caught.”
“Maybe.”
The honesty surprised him.
Then she said:
“I did not want Samantha dead.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I believe you might believe that.”
Her face crumpled.
He continued:
“But you followed a frightened woman in heavy rain because you wanted control.”
Silence.
“You didn’t want Robert dead, but you pushed him toward danger to prove a point.”
Silence.
“You didn’t want me dead, maybe. But you drugged me to make me helpless.”
Silence.
“You say you loved my children, but you hurt them when they threatened your secrets.”
Eleanor cried.
Dominic’s voice softened.
“That is the part you never understood.”
“What?”
“You think intent is the only place morality lives.”
He looked directly at her.
“It also lives in the risks you knowingly force other people to carry.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Dominic put down the phone.
Before leaving, he looked back once.
May you like
His mother remained behind glass.
For the first time in his life, Dominic did not feel responsible for making her feel better.
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