Chapter 10 - The Woman Across the Boardroom
Natalie had met Eleanor Vale six times.
She remembered every meeting differently after learning the truth.
Eleanor was seventy-two, elegant, silver-haired and famous for asking questions that sounded simple until executives realized they could not answer them.
During their first negotiation, Eleanor had studied Natalie for almost ten seconds before speaking.
"Brooks," she had said.
"Any relation to the Worthington Brooks family?"
Natalie had assumed it was small talk.
"My parents live on Worthington Avenue, if that's what you mean."
Eleanor had nodded slowly.
"Interesting."
At the time, Natalie thought nothing of it.
Now she understood.
The merger meeting scheduled for Thursday suddenly became something else entirely.
Daniel begged Natalie not to attend alone.
Natalie refused to cancel.
"If she knows, I want to see her face when I ask."
The meeting took place on the forty-sixth floor of Vale Meridian's headquarters.
Eleanor entered with three attorneys and two bankers.
Natalie sat with Carter-Lane's chief executive, Martin Carter, and the acquisition team.
For the first hour, they discussed valuation.
Debt.
Integration.
Regulatory risk.
Natalie functioned automatically.
At eleven fourteen, Martin called a break.
Everyone left except Natalie and Eleanor.
Neither had planned it.
Or perhaps Eleanor had.
She remained seated.
Natalie closed her binder.
"Did you know Evelyn Hale?"
Eleanor did not react.
"Yes."
Natalie's heart hammered.
"Did you know me?"
"I knew of you."
"How long?"
Eleanor folded her hands.
"Since before you were born."
Natalie stared.
"Alexander was my father."
"Yes."
"You knew."
"Yes."
"Did he?"
"Of course."
"Why didn't he acknowledge me?"
Pain moved across Eleanor's face.
"Because he was weak."
The simplicity of the answer shocked Natalie.
Eleanor continued.
"He regretted it."
"Regret is cheap."
"Yes."
Natalie had not expected agreement.
"Did you threaten Evelyn?"
Eleanor's expression hardened.
"No."
"Evelyn was afraid of you."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because Margaret told her I would take you."
Natalie leaned forward.
"Would you?"
Eleanor looked out the window.
"For a few months, I considered it."
Natalie went cold.
"Why?"
"Alexander wanted you near him."
"And you?"
"I wanted my husband to stop lying."
Eleanor looked at Natalie.
"I hated Evelyn."
The admission was calm.
"I hated Alexander. For a period, I even hated you, although you were an infant who had done nothing."
Natalie appreciated the cruelty of the truth more than a polished lie.
"But I never touched Evelyn."
"Did you pay Richard?"
"No."
"Franklin?"
"No."
"Margaret?"
Eleanor laughed once.
"Margaret tried."
"For what?"
"Silence."
Natalie stared.
"She blackmailed you."
"She attempted to."
"Did you pay?"
"Once."
"How much?"
"Two hundred fifty thousand."
Natalie remembered the trust accounting.
Money had moved in both directions around Margaret.
"Then?"
"I hired investigators."
Natalie felt a chill.
"What did they find?"
Eleanor reached into her briefcase.
She removed a thin folder.
"Enough to frighten Margaret."
Natalie did not touch it.
"Why didn't you go to police?"
"Because Alexander begged me not to destroy his public life."
"Another coward."
"Yes."
Eleanor pushed the folder closer.
"After Evelyn died, I told Alexander I believed the crash was not accidental."
Natalie's throat tightened.
"What did he do?"
"He confronted Richard."
"And?"
"Richard said Evelyn had information that could destroy several people."
"Who?"
"Margaret. Franklin. Alexander."
"And you?"
Eleanor smiled sadly.
"I had already destroyed my marriage. There wasn't much left to threaten."
Natalie opened the folder.
Inside was an investigator's report dated November 1997.
It described a payment from Franklin Voss to Richard Hale two days before Evelyn's crash.
Ten thousand dollars.
Another payment one week after.
Fifty thousand.
Natalie looked up.
"This is evidence."
"Not enough."
"You hid it."
"Yes."
"Why give it to me now?"
Eleanor studied her.
"Because Margaret finally made the mistake I waited twenty-nine years for."
"What mistake?"
"She reopened the Worthington title."
Natalie frowned.
Eleanor continued.
"The house was never the real asset."
"What was?"
"The land beneath it."
Natalie stared.
"Worthington Avenue was part of a thirty-acre parcel Rose Hale inherited."
"So?"
"So fourteen acres remain in an old family holding company."
Natalie felt the story shift again.
"Who owns the company?"
May you like
Eleanor said:
"You do."
