Chapter 3 - The Son Between Two Women
Ethan crossed the lawn so quickly that champagne spilled over his hand.
He set the glass on a stone step and dropped beside Eleanor.
“Mom, what happened?”
Vanessa rushed after him.
“She crashed the party.”
Ethan looked at the hose in her hands.
“Why is she soaked?”
Vanessa’s eyes darted toward Patricia.
“She was acting suspicious. She refused to leave.”
“You sprayed her?”
“She looked homeless.”
Ethan stared at her.
The words seemed to strike harder than the water.
“You thought she was homeless.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I thought she might steal something.”
Eleanor remained on one knee, clutching the bag.
Ethan reached for her arm.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m cold.”
The young server stepped forward again and offered the napkin.
This time, Vanessa said nothing.
Ethan took it and gently placed it around Eleanor’s shoulders.
Patricia moved closer.
“This is all a misunderstanding.”
Eleanor looked up at her.
“You told them to search my bag.”
Patricia’s mouth tightened.
“For security.”
“Your security team is standing beside the entrance.”
Guests shifted uncomfortably.
Several lowered their phones.
Ethan looked around at them.
“You all watched this?”
No one answered.
The silence told him enough.
Vanessa grabbed his arm.
“Ethan, please. She came dressed like this on purpose.”
Eleanor watched her son’s expression change.
Not anger yet.
Confusion.
Vanessa continued.
“She wanted to embarrass me.”
“How would she know you would humiliate her?”
Vanessa froze.
Eleanor slowly stood with Ethan’s help.
Water ran from her dress onto the grass.
She did not release the grocery bag.
Patricia pointed at it.
“She still won’t show us what’s inside.”
Ethan turned toward his fiancée.
“You threatened to search my mother’s belongings?”
“I was protecting our guests.”
“From an elderly woman carrying groceries?”
Vanessa’s face flushed.
“She lied about who she was.”
“I never told you who I was,” Eleanor said.
That distinction silenced the crowd again.
Ethan removed his navy suit jacket and wrapped it around his mother.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“You owe her an apology.”
Vanessa stared at the phones around them.
Her humiliation hardened into resentment.
“I’m sorry your mother decided to test me like some kind of criminal.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That is not an apology.”
Before Vanessa could answer, Eleanor’s phone vibrated inside the bag.
A message had arrived from her investigator.
Eleanor glanced down.
The faint preview contained six words:
May you like
Patricia is moving the money tonight.
👉 The public humiliation was no longer the greatest threat—someone at the party was about to steal millions.
