Chapter 9: The Unexpected Visitor
It was early afternoon when Arthur Vance quietly stepped into the sunroom, interrupting my father and me as we were reviewing fabric samples for the nursery curtains.
"Excuse me, Ms. Vance, Mr. Vance," Arthur said, his expression carefully neutral, though there was a slight edge of annoyance in his voice. "We have a visitor at the main security gate."
My father frowned, looking up from his tablet. "At this gate? Nobody outside our immediate circle even knows the exact location of this property. Who is it?"
"It’s Eleanor Davis," Arthur replied evenly.
The name hung in the air like a foul odor.
I froze, the fabric swatch slipping slightly from my fingers. My father’s eyes narrowed into hard, dangerous slits.
"Eleanor Davis?" my father repeated, his voice dropping an octave. "The woman who stood by while her family harassed and assaulted my daughter? The woman whose husband is currently under federal investigation for white-collar crime? How did she even find this address?"
"She followed one of our legal couriers from the downtown courthouse," Arthur explained. "She’s currently parked outside the gates, screaming at the security guards, demanding to speak with Ms. Vance."
I let out a slow, steady breath and leaned back in my chair. A cold, detached curiosity replaced any initial shock. After years of looking down her nose at me, calling me "cheap trash" and "dead weight," the almighty Eleanor Davis was now reduced to screaming outside our gates like a desperate beggar.
"What does she want?" I asked quietly.
"She wants to beg for mercy," Arthur said. "Her husband’s assets are frozen, her daughter’s wedding is an international laughingstock, and their social circle has completely cut them off. She realized that the only person who has the direct ear of the family that just destroyed them is you."
My father looked at me, his expression softening with paternal concern. "You don't have to see her, Vivienne. Say the word, and Arthur will have her removed from the property by local authorities."
I thought about it for a moment. I thought about every cruel remark at family dinners, every condescending look, every time she made me feel small and worthless while I stayed silent for the sake of a marriage that was already dead.
May you like
Then I stood up, smoothing down my silk robe.
"No, Dad," I said, a calm, steady resolve in my voice. "Let her in. I want to see the look on her face when she realizes the reality of what she’s done."
