Chapter 6 - THE GRANDMOTHER'S COSTEleanor denied everything.
Then the messages surfaced.
She claimed Vanessa fabricated them.
Forensic verification said otherwise.
Eleanor changed strategy.
She admitted discussing guardianship.
But only because Nathan had a temper.
Thomas asked:
“Before or after the party?”
Eleanor refused to answer.
Dates answered for her.
Weeks before.
Then the financial motive surfaced.
If Mia's voting rights were suspended during a guardianship dispute, Eleanor could temporarily consolidate enough influence to push through the sale of a major hotel portfolio.
Why the rush?
Debt.
Cole Properties had hidden exposure to a failed development.
Eleanor wanted liquidity before lenders discovered how bad it was.
Nathan had blocked the sale because he thought the price was too low.
He didn't know the debt crisis was deeper.
Eleanor did.
She needed his opposition removed.
Mia's trust became a battlefield.
And Mia herself became collateral.
Nathan felt rage when Thomas explained it.
Then disgust.
Then something colder.
His mother had watched her granddaughter bleed because a bruised child was useful to a corporate strategy.
He stopped calling her Mom during legal discussions.
May you like
Eleanor.
Names mattered.
