Chapter 17 - THE LAST DINNER AT THE VINEYARD
Eleanor's escape had been planned months earlier.
She bribed a corrections officer.
Changed the transport route.
Used a false ambulance.
Then she came for me.
A phone rang inside my hotel room.
“Come to the vineyard.”
“No.”
A video appeared.
Maya was tied to a chair.
“Come alone.”
I knew it was a trap.
So did the federal agents.
But we went anyway.
I entered the Caldwell dining room through the same doors where Adrian had attacked me.
The table was set.
A plate sat in front of my chair.
Eleanor sat at the head.
Maya was tied across from me.
“You have taken everything,” Eleanor said.
“No.”
“Your family gave it away.”
“You destroyed Charles.”
“He helped murder my father.”
“You destroyed Adrian.”
“He attacked me.”
“You destroyed Julian.”
“He kidnapped a child.”
Eleanor poured wine.
“You always have an answer.”
“The truth usually does.”
She wanted me to confess to fabricating the evidence.
She wanted me to record my suicide.
Then I asked the question she could never resist.
“Did you order my father's death?”
“Yes.”
“Did you order the driver's death?”
“He became expensive.”
“Did you imprison Lydia?”
“She refused to surrender Grace.”
“Did Charles object?”
“Charles always objected.”
“Then he obeyed.”
“Did Adrian know?”
“He knew enough.”
“And Maya's children?”
“They were never important.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Families are not held together by love.”
“They are held together by fear.”
I looked at Maya.
“No.”
“They are held together by choices.”
The lights came on.
Federal vehicles surrounded the estate.
Eleanor reached for the gun.
I overturned the table.
The plate shattered.
Maya threw herself sideways.
The gun fired.
Agents stormed the room.
Eleanor crawled toward the weapon.
Maya kicked it away.
For the first time in her life, Eleanor looked around and realized something terrifying.
Nobody was protecting her.
Charles had testified.
Adrian was imprisoned.
Julian had confessed.
Thomas Vale had turned.
Monica Shaw was captured.
The officers entering the room were wearing body cameras connected to a federal live feed.
Eleanor slowly raised her hands.
As the cuffs closed around her wrists, she stared at the broken plate.
“Such a waste.”
I looked at the fragments.
“No.”
“It finally served a purpose.”
Eleanor's face changed.
Because she knew the truth.
The plate that was supposed to silence me had become the first piece of evidence that destroyed her empire.
But the story wasn't over.
Someone had leaked every protected location.
Someone inside the system had helped Eleanor.
And the name on the phone was:
May you like
NORA REYES.
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