Chapter 12 - What Eleanor Thought a Mother Was Supposed to Do
The confrontation with Eleanor took place at her attorney’s office in Hinsdale.
Sebastian and Clara sat together.
Not touching.
Julian was not there.
Eleanor wore cream, as she had at the dinner.
Her pearls were gone.
Sebastian asked the question he had avoided his entire life.
“Why did you keep Dad’s debt from me?”
“Because he asked me to.”
“He was dying.”
“He was still your father.”
“Why keep it for nine years?”
“Because you were good at running Bellamy when you believed Bellamy was safe.”
Sebastian stared at her.
“So you managed my reality.”
“I protected your focus.”
Clara looked at Sebastian.
He understood the irony.
That was exactly what he had done to her.
Eleanor turned toward Clara.
“You have no idea what it takes to preserve something over generations.”
Clara answered quietly.
“I know what it costs when you preserve the wrong thing.”
Eleanor’s eyes hardened.
“You think this is about greed?”
“What is it about?”
“My husband spent his life making sure his sons would never work for another man. I was not going to hand his company to lenders because one debt became inconvenient.”
“So you stole.”
“I moved money.”
“You forged my name.”
“I never touched your signature.”
“You knew Julian did.”
“I knew he created paperwork.”
“You pulled me onto the floor while eight months pregnant.”
For the first time, Eleanor looked uncomfortable.
“You challenged me in front of my friends.”
Clara almost smiled.
“That’s your explanation?”
“You were threatening everything.”
Sebastian leaned forward.
“No. She was threatening your control over everything.”
Eleanor looked at her oldest son.
“You would not have this house, that company, or your name in Chicago without me.”
“That may be true.”
The answer surprised her.
Sebastian continued.
“And it does not buy the right to hurt my wife.”
Eleanor’s voice dropped.
“She changed you.”
“No.”
He looked at Clara.
“She stopped absorbing what I refused to see.”
Eleanor turned toward the window.
Then, quietly, she admitted what she had actually feared.
Not prison.
Not poverty.
Irrelevance.
If the family shares moved outside Bellamy control, she would become an elderly widow with no formal role in the company her entire adult identity revolved around.
“I buried your father,” she said. “Then I watched everyone start treating me like history.”
Sebastian understood her.
That was different from forgiving her.
Clara stood.
“I’m sorry you were afraid of disappearing.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“But you tried to make me disappear instead.”
Clara left.
May you like
Sebastian followed.
For once, he did not remain behind to comfort his mother.
