“I know you visited us every Sunday before Victoria decided family breakfasts were boring. I know you stopped taking Richard’s calls when she said he was trying to control you. I know she complained about hospital visits because they interfered with travel plans. I know Charlotte heard her say she was ‘putting in time until the payoff.’”
Thomas went still.
“That’s a lie.”
“When has Charlotte lied to you?” Eleanor asked. “Even after you missed her birthdays, her graduation, her first apartment move, she never lied about you. She loved you too much to invent reasons to hate you.”
His face changed then. Not fully. Not enough. But a crack appeared.
“Thomas,” Eleanor said quietly, “whatever you think of me, ask yourself one honest question. Would Victoria still be beside you if there were no inheritance, no company title, no Mitchell prestige left to claim?”
His jaw tightened.
“That’s disgusting.”
“Is it false?”
The phone buzzed again.
Thomas stepped back.
“This conversation is over.”
As he reached the door, Eleanor called after him.
“Your father’s greatest regret was not disinheriting you. It was fearing he had failed to help you become the man he knew you could be.”
Thomas paused.