Chapter 5 - Eleanor’s Locked File
Eleanor ordered the musicians to stop playing.
Then she told her house manager, Mrs. Grant, to bring a gray metal file from her private office.
Michael’s head snapped up.
“What file?”
“The one you asked me to destroy five years ago.”
Silence spread across the lawn.
Michael forced a laugh.
“My mother is confused.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“My memory is excellent.”
Mrs. Grant returned carrying a locked document case.
Eleanor entered a code and removed a thick hospital envelope.
“When Andrea nearly died,” she said, “I collected copies of every medical record because Michael was too busy arguing with administrators.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
Eleanor handed me the first page.
St. Catherine’s Hospital.
My name.
My admission time.
Emergency cesarean delivery.
Male infant, delivered at 3:18 a.m.
Blood type O positive.
I looked at Leo.
His blood type was O positive.
Vanessa lifted her chin.
“A medical record can be altered.”
“So can a birth certificate,” I replied.
Michael stepped closer.
“This spectacle is hurting Leo.”
I almost laughed.
He had brought another woman into our home, placed her beside our child’s cake, and allowed her to call me a thief.
Now he wanted to protect Leo.
Eleanor continued sorting the documents.
Then she stopped.
A page was missing.
The neonatal transfer form.
The document showing exactly where Leo had been taken after delivery.
Michael noticed.
So did I.
Eleanor searched the envelope twice.
“It was here,” she said.
Vanessa’s lips curved.
“Convenient.”
Mrs. Grant suddenly spoke.
“Mrs. Whitmore, the office camera recorded someone entering your study last night.”
Michael turned pale.
I looked toward Vanessa.
She had not come only to speak with him.
She had entered the house.
She had gone near Eleanor’s records.
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And she believed she had removed the one document that could destroy her story.
👉 Mrs. Grant had seen who entered the study—but before she could name them, Michael accused her of taking money from me.
