Chapter 2 - Six Weeks Before the Toast
Six weeks earlier, Elena had stood in the same private dining room while event planners measured the anniversary table.
At that time, the room had been empty except for white chairs, folded linens and a sample arrangement of roses.
Grant walked between the tables while speaking into his phone.
“No lilies,” he told the planner. “Elena’s father used lilies at company events. I don’t want this dinner to feel like one of his memorials.”
Elena looked toward the windows.
Her father, Richard Hart, had founded Hartwell Grand Hotels with one coastal property and a loan secured against the home where Elena and Ava had grown up. By the time he died, the company managed sixteen luxury hotels across the country.
He had left Elena thirty-eight percent of its voting shares.
He had left Ava a separate trust and the freedom to pursue a life outside the company.
Grant had received nothing.
That fact had bothered him for ten years.
He ended his call and approached Elena.
“The board vote is three days after our anniversary.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand why the voting transfer needs to be signed before the dinner.”
Elena looked at the folder he was holding.
Grant had presented the papers as a practical arrangement. He would vote on her behalf for one year, allowing her to rest while he negotiated a merger with Northstar Crown Resorts.
Elena had read enough to know it was not temporary.
The transfer included renewal provisions, emergency authority and a clause allowing Grant to replace her on the board if she became medically unable to serve.
“I haven’t agreed to the merger,” Elena said.
“You have not even attended the last two board meetings.”
“I was recovering.”
Grant’s expression tightened.
“From an accident you caused.”
Elena remembered the staircase. She remembered Grant blocking the landing during an argument. She remembered losing her balance when she tried to pass him.
She also remembered Sloane telling the doctor that Elena had been dizzy all morning.
“You told me you would give me time,” Elena said.
“I have given you ten years.”
He set the folder on the table.
“Sign it before the anniversary.”
“And if I don’t?”
Grant smiled, but his eyes remained cold.
“Then people may start wondering whether Richard Hart left his company to the wrong daughter.”
A door opened behind them.
Sloane and Marissa entered carrying garment bags.
Grant’s sisters had been living in the Mercer estate for almost three months. Their official reason was to help prepare for the anniversary celebration. In reality, they followed Elena through the house, questioned her decisions and reported every private conversation to Grant.
Sloane placed a garment bag over a chair.
“We found your dress,” she said.
“I already have one.”
Marissa looked Elena up and down.
“Grant wants you in white. Something modest.”
Sloane unzipped the bag and revealed a high-necked gown with long sleeves.
It was elegant.
It would also hide every visible mark on Elena’s arms.
Grant kissed Elena’s forehead.
“My sisters are trying to help you.”
Elena waited until he left the room before speaking.
“Do you ever become tired of doing his work for him?”
Marissa’s smile vanished.
Sloane stepped closer.
“You should be grateful he stayed.”
Elena looked at her.
“Stayed through what?”
“Through your instability. Your accidents. Your embarrassment at the charity gala.”
At the gala, Grant had removed Elena’s speech from the program after she refused to endorse the Northstar merger. Sloane later told reporters Elena had experienced a panic episode.
The lie had spread before Elena could challenge it.
“You should think carefully before fighting him,” Marissa said. “Grant has spent years protecting your reputation.”
Elena turned toward the windows again.
Outside, a delivery truck crossed the hotel courtyard. Staff members carried flowers into the lobby. The business her father had built continued operating while people inside her own home tried to convince her that she could no longer be trusted to lead it.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Ava appeared.
I found the photograph you sent. Call me when you are alone.
Elena quickly locked the screen.
Sloane noticed.
“Was that your sister?”
“No.”
Sloane reached for the phone, but Elena pulled it away.
For a moment, neither woman moved.
Then Marissa closed the dining room doors.
Sloane’s voice became quieter.
“Grant asked us to make sure you stopped speaking to Ava.”
“Grant does not decide who I speak to.”
“He decides much more than you understand.”
Elena looked from one sister to the other.
“What did he promise you?”
Marissa’s eyes shifted toward Sloane.
It was a small reaction, but Elena saw it.
Before either woman could answer, Grant returned.
He carried a second folder.
“Elena, there is one more document.”
He placed it beside the voting transfer.
The title read Voluntary Medical Oversight Agreement.
Elena looked up.
Grant’s smile returned.
“If you refuse to sign the first document, we will use the second.”
That evening, Elena locked herself in the guest bathroom and called Ava.
Her sister answered before the first ring ended.
“Elena?”
For several seconds, Elena could not speak.
Then she used the sentence they had invented as children, the one they promised would mean danger no matter how many years passed.
“I think the blue room needs painting.”
Ava went silent.
May you like
When she finally responded, her voice had changed.
“Do not tell anyone I’m coming home.”
