Chapter 6 - What Eleanor Really Wanted
The second document was discovered inside Eleanor's bedroom.
It had never been completed.
That mattered.
So did the handwritten notes beside it.
Michael explained everything carefully.
Nothing proved Eleanor had successfully obtained control over Lucas's affairs.
She hadn't.
But the papers revealed an intention to explore ways of doing so.
Lucas listened without interrupting.
“So she couldn't actually take control?”
“No.”
“Then why do this?”
Michael glanced at Sophia.
“Because she may have believed she could pressure everyone into behaving as if she had.”
That sounded like Eleanor.
Authority mattered to her almost as much as money.
Sometimes more.
As a child, Lucas had watched her control rooms with nothing but certainty.
People often obeyed because Eleanor behaved as though disobedience was impossible.
Sophia had been trapped inside that certainty.
Not anymore.
Later that morning, Lucas finally received permission to take a shower in an unused staff area and change clothes.
When he returned, Sophia smiled faintly.
“You look human again.”
“That's disappointing. I was going for exhausted disaster.”
She laughed.
It was small.
But it was the first laugh Lucas had heard from her since coming home.
He sat beside her.
“I missed that.”
“What?”
“You laughing.”
Her smile disappeared slowly.
“I forgot how.”
Lucas took her hand.
“We'll remember.”
Leo remained under observation.
His condition continued improving.
Doctors were cautious, but encouraging.
The immediate medical emergency was passing.
The emotional one had barely begun.
Sophia startled whenever someone entered unexpectedly.
She apologized constantly.
She asked permission before touching things that belonged to her.
Lucas noticed every time.
He never corrected her sharply.
He simply answered.
“You don't need permission.”
Again.
And again.
Until maybe, someday, she would believe it.
That afternoon, an investigator returned.
“We need to discuss the recordings.”
Sophia stiffened.
Lucas asked, “Does she need to hear them?”
“No.”
Sophia surprised him.
“I want to.”
The investigator looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
They played only portions necessary to clarify what had happened.
Eleanor and Audrey discussed Sophia as if she were a problem to solve.
They complained about Lucas sending money directly to household accounts.
They discussed convincing Sophia that she had no rights to the property.
Then came a recording from four days earlier.
Sophia was crying somewhere outside the nursery.
Audrey's voice said, “What happens if she tells Lucas?”
Eleanor answered immediately.
“He'll believe me.”
Lucas stared at the screen.
The confidence in his mother's voice was almost more disturbing than anger would have been.
Audrey asked, “Why?”
Eleanor laughed softly.
“Because I'm his mother.”
Lucas stopped the recording.
Nobody spoke.
For years, Eleanor had apparently mistaken his patience for unquestioning loyalty.
His willingness to help her for weakness.
His silence for agreement.
Sophia whispered, “That's what she kept telling me.”
Lucas looked at her.
“That you'd believe her?”
Sophia nodded.
“Every day.”
Lucas reached for her hand.
“She was wrong.”
That evening, another update arrived.
Eleanor and Audrey were no longer inside the house.
Their access had been restricted while legal matters continued.
Sophia stared at Lucas after hearing the news.
“They're really gone?”
“Yes.”
She looked almost afraid to feel relieved.
Lucas squeezed her hand.
“You don't have to decide anything tonight.”
“What happens to the house?”
“Whatever we decide.”
“We?”
“You and me.”
Sophia looked down at Leo.
“And him.”
Lucas smiled.
“Especially him.”
For a moment, everything seemed simple.
Then Michael called.
Lucas answered.
His attorney's first sentence erased the smile from his face.
“Lucas, your mother has made an allegation against Sophia.”
Lucas walked into the hallway.
“What allegation?”
Michael explained.
Lucas's expression darkened.
Eleanor was claiming Sophia had fabricated everything to gain control of Lucas's assets.
And she was demanding investigators examine Sophia instead.
Lucas almost responded angrily.
Then he stopped.
Because Michael was not worried.
In fact, his next words were unexpectedly calm.
“Let her talk.”
“Why?”
“Because we found something in the financial records.”
“What?”
Michael paused.
“A payment.”
“To whom?”
“A private investigator.”
Lucas frowned.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
The same week Lucas had quietly begun gathering evidence.
May you like
And suddenly, a new question appeared.
If Eleanor had hired someone six weeks earlier, what had she been trying to discover?
