The Terms of Surrender
The next morning, the sprawling Sterling estate was hauntingly quiet. Victoria sat in Eleanor’s wood-paneled study, stripped of her designer makeup and silk nightgowns. She wore simple slacks and a plain blouse, looking entirely out of her element.
Eleanor sat behind her massive oak desk. “I have a choice to make today,” Eleanor began, her tone strictly business. “I can hand this tablet to the authorities, which will result in your arrest, a public scandal that will destroy James, and the end of your life as you know it.”
Victoria squeezed her eyes shut. “And the alternative?”
“The alternative is redemption,” Eleanor said firmly. “You will sign a confession, which I will hold in a safety deposit box. You will step down from your vanity position on the board. And you will spend the next year working at the Sterling textile mill. The very factory floor where I started forty years ago.”
“A factory?” Victoria balked, her pride flaring for a brief second. “I have an MBA—”
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“You have an ego,” Eleanor corrected sharply. “And it has blinded you to the value of honest labor and human connection. You will earn minimum wage. You will pay back every cent you stole. Or you will go to prison. Choose.”
Victoria looked at her hands, the manicured nails suddenly seeming trivial. Slowly, she nodded.
