Chapter 5 - THE SON HENRY DEFENDEDWesley sat down heavily.
For the first time, he looked less like a powerful executive and more like the frightened child Eleanor remembered.
When he was ten, he had broken a neighbor’s window with a baseball. Henry paid for the damage before Wesley admitted what he had done.
At sixteen, Wesley crashed Henry’s car after taking it without permission. Henry told the police he had allowed Wesley to drive.
At twenty-three, Wesley lost thousands of dollars in a reckless investment. Eleanor quietly replaced the money so Henry would never know.
They had protected their son from every consequence.
Now he seemed to believe protection was his birthright.
“I made one mistake,” Wesley said.
Claire looked at the six fraudulent loan agreements.
“You made the same mistake six times.”
“I was under pressure.”
“From whom?” Eleanor asked.
“From everyone. The board expected me to grow the company. Investors compared me to Dad. You sat in meetings correcting me in front of employees.”
“I corrected false numbers.”
“You made me look incompetent.”
“You were presenting reports you had not read.”
Wesley stood again.
“Dad believed in me.”
“Your father loved you,” Eleanor said. “That is not the same as believing every lie you tell.”
Wesley looked toward Henry’s portrait.
“He wanted me to run the company.”
“He wanted you to earn the right.”
“I’m his son.”
“And I was his wife and business partner.”
Serena interrupted.
“Arguing about the past won’t solve this. We need to restore the accounts and deal with the loans privately.”
Eleanor almost admired Serena’s confidence.
“There will be no restoration.”
“Think about the family reputation.”
“I am.”
“Think about your grandchildren.”
“I have. Their education and medical expenses are protected.”
Serena’s voice became sharper.
“What about their home?”
“Their parents can provide one.”
“You’re punishing children because you were left out of a party.”
Eleanor stood.
Despite her age, her posture remained straight.
“I am stopping two adults from using children as hostages in a financial argument.”
Serena fell silent.
Claire placed another document on the table.
“Wesley has been removed as acting chief executive pending an emergency board investigation.”
“You can’t remove me,” Wesley said.
“I hold the voting shares,” Eleanor replied. “I already have.”
“My name is on every contract.”
“Your name is also on forged documents. That is not the protection you think it is.”
Wesley walked toward the window and looked out at the estate.
He had grown up in this house.
Eleanor wondered whether he had ever understood how it was built.
Not the bricks and stone.
The sacrifice.
The years Henry worked until midnight.
The nights Eleanor slept beside a telephone, waiting for late payments from clients.
The holidays they postponed.
The jewelry she sold.
The second child they decided not to have because the business nearly collapsed.
Wesley had inherited the result but none of the memory.
“You’ll send me to prison?” he asked quietly.
Eleanor’s anger softened, but only slightly.
“That choice will not belong entirely to me.”
“You’re my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then help me.”
“I have helped you every time you refused to help yourself.”
He turned around.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“About the loans?”
“About everything.”
Wesley looked at Serena.
She shook her head almost imperceptibly.
Eleanor noticed.
“So there is more,” she said.
Wesley said nothing.
Martin opened his laptop again.
“There may be.”
He turned the screen toward Eleanor.
A seventh loan application had been submitted three days earlier.
May you like
It had not yet been approved.
The collateral was Eleanor’s home.
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