Chapter 4: The Shadow in the Mirror**
Across the city, inside the silent Sterling penthouse, Eleanor sat alone at a banquet table designed to seat twenty. A fine layer of concealer masked the bruise on her cheek, but nothing could mask the eerie quiet settling over the pristine rooms.
Her private investigator, a sleek man in a charcoal suit named Vance, stood near the fireplace.
“They’re in Astoria, Mrs. Sterling,” Vance reported, sliding a manila folder across the mahogany table. “She’s washing dishes at a commercial bakery. Living in a basement.”
Eleanor picked up the photographs. She saw Toby holding a bag of day-old bread, smiling broadly as Clara playfully wiped flour from his nose. The sight infuriated her. They were supposed to be suffering. They were supposed to be begging on the marble threshold for her forgiveness.
“Have the city health inspectors visit that bakery,” Eleanor ordered, her voice clipped and cold. “Find an infraction. Shut it down. And contact our attorneys in family court. Draft a petition for full emergency custody based on child endangerment and maternal instability.”
Vance hesitated, catching Eleanor’s cold stare in the mirror behind the bar. “Ma’am... the boy looks healthy. The courts usually favor the biological mother unless there's gross negligence.”
“Toby is a Sterling!” Eleanor slammed her palm onto the table, rattling the crystal glasses. “His blood belongs to this family’s legacy. He will not grow up smelling of cheap grease and flour. Break her, Vance. Break her until she gives him back.”
May you like
Vance nodded solemnly and withdrew into the shadows. Left alone, Eleanor stared at the empty chairs. The immense silence of her eighty-million-dollar kingdom felt heavier than ever before.
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