Chapter 6 - The Birthday Dinner
Eleanor’s sixty-fourth birthday arrived two weeks later.
Daniel invited her to dinner at his house, promising a quiet evening with family. Eleanor almost declined, but part of her still hoped he intended to confess.
Marissa had decorated the dining room with candles and white roses. A cake sat on the sideboard. Everything looked elegant, but no other guests had been invited.
After dinner, Daniel brought out a bottle of champagne.
“To new beginnings,” he said.
Eleanor did not drink.
Marissa placed another folder beside her plate.
Inside was a revised agreement for three hundred thousand dollars.
“This is not a birthday dinner,” Eleanor said.
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“We didn’t know how else to get you here.”
“You could have asked.”
“You keep refusing to understand.”
“I understand that your debt has grown.”
Daniel froze.
Marissa stopped smiling.
“How much do you know?” she asked.
“Enough.”
Daniel pushed his chair back.
“Who have you been talking to?”
“That should not matter. Tell me the truth.”
He looked at Marissa.
That single glance answered Eleanor’s question.
Marissa spoke first.
“The company had a difficult year. That doesn’t mean we committed a crime.”
“I did not mention a crime.”
Silence spread across the room.
Eleanor reached into her handbag and touched Thomas’s letter.
“Did either of you use my signature?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
Marissa stood.
“This conversation is over.”
“No,” Eleanor said. “It has finally begun.”
Daniel followed Marissa into the hallway. Eleanor could hear them whispering.
When he returned, he said the sentence that destroyed her remaining hope.
“Mom, you sometimes forget things. Maybe you signed something and don’t remember.”
Eleanor stared at him.
May you like
He could not hold her gaze.
She stood, took her coat, and left without touching the cake.
