Chapter 6 - Sell the Wine
Eleanor looked around the foyer.
“You renovated my home with money from selling my company.”
“The mansion needed modernization,” Victoria replied.
“You removed my husband’s study.”
“It was outdated.”
“You replaced the employee dining room with a wine vault.”
“It increased the property value.”
Leah’s expression tightened.
For six months, staff had eaten inside a basement storage area.
Victoria turned toward her.
“You lived here without paying rent.”
There it was.
The wealthy family’s favorite calculation.
A small staff room meant every missed night of sleep should be considered gratitude.
Leah removed a handwritten work log.
Overnight calls.
Canceled days off.
Medical assistance.
Household work added after Victoria fired Eleanor’s night aide.
The unpaid overtime exceeded one hundred thousand dollars.
Ethan stared.
“You never told me.”
“I emailed you six times.”
He remembered forwarding every message to Victoria without reading it.
Eleanor said:
“Pay her.”
Victoria snapped:
“With what?”
Eleanor looked toward the climate-controlled wine vault.
“Sell the wine.”
For the first time, luxury would be sacrificed before a worker’s wages.
Victoria’s face collapsed.
Then Leah found something worse in the household accounts.
May you like
The night aide had not been fired to save money.
Victoria had continued billing Eleanor’s trust for the woman’s salary.
