Chapter 4 - The Account Patricia Thought Was Invisible
Eleanor asked Ethan to take her inside.
Vanessa immediately objected.
“She can’t walk through the party dripping water everywhere.”
Ethan turned toward her so slowly that Vanessa stepped back.
“This is my mother.”
Patricia forced a smile.
“Of course she should come inside.”
The change in her tone was instant.
Eleanor noticed.
Moments earlier, Patricia had treated her like trash.
Now that she knew Eleanor’s name, she was offering towels, tea, and a private room.
That was exactly what Eleanor had come to confirm.
Inside the mansion, staff brought blankets.
The young server introduced himself as Caleb.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help sooner,” he whispered.
“You tried,” Eleanor said. “That matters.”
Across the room, Vanessa whispered furiously to Patricia.
Eleanor could not hear every word.
Her phone could.
It remained inside the bag, recording through the open zipper.
Patricia said, “Stay calm. Ethan still doesn’t know about the transfer.”
Vanessa hissed, “She’s going to destroy everything.”
“She has no proof.”
Eleanor’s eyes sharpened.
Ethan knelt beside her chair.
“Why did you come like this?”
“I needed to see something for myself.”
“You could have asked me.”
“I did.”
His face fell.
He remembered every warning he had dismissed.
Eleanor touched his hand.
“I didn’t come to punish you.”
“Then why record us?”
He had noticed the faint light inside the bag.
Eleanor hesitated.
“Because someone sent me evidence that Vanessa and Patricia have been lying about more than their behavior.”
Ethan slowly stood.
“What evidence?”
Before Eleanor could answer, Patricia appeared with a towel.
“We should all calm down.”
Eleanor accepted the towel but did not thank her.
“Where is the engagement fund?”
Patricia’s smile remained fixed.
“What engagement fund?”
“The four-million-dollar event account Ethan authorized for the wedding and future home.”
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Ethan looked at her.
“What is she talking about?”
Eleanor’s investigator had uncovered a second account opened under a shell company connected to Patricia.
Money from the wedding fund had been moved into it in small amounts.
Designer purchases.
Private travel.
Debt payments.
And one transfer scheduled for that evening.
The final transfer would empty the account.
Patricia’s expression changed.
“You have no right to inspect our finances.”
Eleanor looked around the mansion.
“My company funded the account.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
Then at Vanessa.
“You told me the balance was untouched.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“It was for us.”
“How much is left?”
Vanessa looked toward Patricia.
May you like
That was the answer.
👉 Ethan had just realized the woman he planned to marry had not only lied about his mother—she had been draining the future they were supposed to build together.
