Chapter 4 - THE VULTURE’S WING
The Lake Geneva mansion felt like a tomb by sunset.
I didn't leave the estate immediately.
I had booked a suite at the neighboring resort,
but I returned to the mansion’s library for the meeting I had demanded.
Eleanor sat behind a massive mahogany desk,
the light from the fireplace casting orange flickers across her wrinkled brow.
She looked older.
The champagne silk dress was wrinkled,
and her hair was coming loose from its pins.
Ethan sat in the corner,
staring at a glass of whiskey he hadn't touched.
I walked in alone this time,
leaving the boys with Maya and the guards.
"The debt is due, Eleanor,"
I said,
placing my laptop on the desk.
"I’ve reviewed the Montgomery Logistics books."
"You’ve been funneling money into offshore accounts for three years."
"Embezzlement, Eleanor."
"From your own son’s company."
Eleanor looked up,
her eyes cold and hard.
"I was protecting the family!"
"Ethan was too soft,
just like his father."
"I had to ensure we had a safety net."
"A safety net that cost forty million dollars of the company's operating capital?"
"That’s why you needed the Hastings merger."
"You weren't marrying Ethan off for love or legacy."
"You were marrying him off to cover your tracks."
Ethan’s head snapped up.
"Is that true?"
"Mother,
answer her."
Eleanor didn't look at him.
She looked at me with a hatred that could have burned through steel.
"You think you’ve won, Ava?"
"You think you can just walk in here and take everything?"
"I don't think it, Eleanor."
"I know it."
"I own the debt."
"I have the evidence of the fraud."
"And I have the only three heirs to this name."
I leaned over the desk,
my shadow looming over her.
"I’m giving you twenty-four hours to vacate this estate."
"It’s listed as a corporate asset of the logistics firm."
"And since I’m the primary creditor,
I’m initiating a seizure of assets."
Eleanor laughed,
a dry,
hacking sound.
"You’re a monster."
"No, Eleanor."
"I’m a mother."
"And I learned everything I know about being a monster from you."
I turned to Ethan.
"You have a choice, Ethan."
"You can stay here and drown with her."
"Or you can come to the resort tomorrow morning and meet your sons."
"But don't come as a Montgomery."
"Come as a man who finally has a spine."
I walked out of the library without waiting for an answer.
The hallway was lined with portraits of Montgomery ancestors.
Stern men and cold women.
They all looked like they were waiting for someone to apologize.
I kept my head high and my pace steady.
I was no longer the girl who had been pushed out of these doors.
I was the one who was coming back to tear the doors off their hinges.
The cold night air felt like a benediction.
I got into my SUV and drove away from the lights of the mansion.
My sons were waiting for me.
May you like
And for the first time in five years,
I didn't have to hide who we were.
