Chapter 6 - The Mother-in-Law’s Desperation
Two days later, Claire was sitting in the conservatory of the Hawthorne mansion, enjoying the afternoon breeze, when the front gates announced an unexpected visitor. Elaine Whitmore had bypassed the estate's phone screening by having a neighbor drive her up to the front entrance.
Elaine stormed into the foyer, her pearl necklace rattling against her silk blouse, her face pale beneath heavy foundation. She looked around the cavernous estate—the home she had spent three years bragging about to her bridge club as her ""son's country retreat.""
""Claire!"" Elaine cried, walking into the conservatory with outstretched hands, trying to summon an expression of maternal affection. ""Darling, thank goodness you're here. We need to talk about this terrible, terrible misunderstanding.""
Claire didn't get up. She set her porcelain teacup down on the glass table. ""Good afternoon, Elaine. If you're looking for Nathan, he doesn't live here.""
Elaine flinched, dropping her hands. She took a seat on the wicker sofa across from Claire, struggling to maintain her aristocratic composure. ""Claire, dear, you cannot let anger ruin a good family. Nathan made a foolish mistake. Men are weak; they get flattered by younger women who have no morals. But you are his wife! You hold the dignity of the Whitmore name in your hands.""
Claire let out a soft, genuine chuckle. ""The Whitmore name? Elaine, before Nathan married me, your family was six months away from losing your family home in Darien to tax foreclosure. My trust quietly cleared your mortgage so Nathan wouldn't feel humiliated in front of his peers.""
Elaine turned an ash-gray color. ""You... you promised never to bring that up.""
""I promised to be a generous wife to a loyal husband,"" Claire countered smoothly. ""I made no promises to subsidize the vanity of a family that smiled in my face while their son paraded his mistress through my properties. Audrey knew about Lila, didn't she?""
Elaine averted her eyes, unable to meet Claire's piercing gaze.
""Audrey knew,"" Claire continued, her tone dipping into icy certainty. ""She covered for him when he went to St. Barts. And you, Elaine—when that text flashed across Nathan's screen during chicken dinner, you didn't look surprised. You looked irritated that he had been careless enough to get caught.""
""Claire, please,"" Elaine begged, real panic creeping into her voice as she reached out to grab Claire's arm. Claire pulled back cleanly, refusing the contact. ""Audrey will be ruined if she gets evicted from that apartment! She’s trying to build a career in public relations! And my social circle... what will people say?""
""They will say you raised a thief and a cheat,"" Claire said coldly, standing up to signal the end of the conversation. ""Audrey has twenty-four hours to vacate. And as for your Darien home, the trust holds the original mortgage deed. You have thirty days to secure commercial refinancing to pay us back, or we will foreclose.""
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Elaine collapsed back onto the sofa, clutching her chest, utterly broken. ""You're a monster...""
""No, Elaine,"" Claire whispered as two security guards entered to escort her out. ""I'm Eleanor Hawthorne's granddaughter. And you should have remembered that before you let your son treat me like a fool.""
