Chapter 14 - The Swiss Connection
Eleanor let her thumb rest directly over the flashing red decline icon on her phone screen. Without the slightest hesitation, she pressed it down, terminating the call before it could even ring a second time.
Immediately afterward, she opened her settings menu, blocked the Swiss number permanently, and then powered the device down entirely. The screen went black, reflecting her calm, resolute face in the glass.
She tossed the dead phone onto the cushion of the parlor armchair and walked over to the grand fireplace. The embers were glowing a deep, beautiful orange, radiating a steady, comforting heat that chased away the winter chill. She knelt down on the hearth rug, picked up the brass poker, and gently nudged a heavy log into the center of the flames, watching the sparks dance upward into the chimney.
The legal battle ahead would be long, complicated, and exhausting. Marcus Sterling’s firm would spend months untangling Patricia’s fraudulent web, sorting through shell companies, foreclosing on properties, and liquidating assets to satisfy the federal receivership. Her name would be dragged through local gossip circles by relatives who refused to accept accountability for their own greed. David would eventually realize that running away to Europe hadn't saved him from the financial fallout of his sister’s crimes.
None of it frightened her anymore. For the first time in her adult life, she was standing on solid ground that she had cleared with her own hands and protected with her own boundaries.
She stood up, brushed a speck of ash from the knee of her dark wool trousers, and walked back into the dining room. She picked up the silver lighter from the mantelpiece and walked systematically around the table, extinguishing the tall white candles one by one. As each flame went out, a thin wisp of gray smoke curled toward the ceiling, carrying away the final lingering ghosts of the past twelve years.
When the last candle was blown out, the room plunged into a soft, cozy darkness illuminated only by the warm amber glow spilling in from the parlor fireplace.
Eleanor walked over to the grand mahogany dining table, picked up the untouched roasted turkey platter, and carried it carefully toward the kitchen. She didn't put it away in the refrigerator; instead, she wrapped a portion neatly in butcher paper, placed it on the kitchen counter for the stray animals that braved the winter woods behind the property, and then washed her hands thoroughly in the deep porcelain sink.
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As she dried her hands on a clean linen towel, she noticed a single small envelope tucked underneath the fruit bowl on the kitchen island.
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