Chapter 3 - The Recording
Leah removed a small voice recorder from her apron.
Victoria stared at it.
“You recorded private conversations?”
“I recorded what happened after no one answered me.”
She pressed play.
Victoria’s voice filled the ballroom:
“Sign tonight, and Leah keeps her position.”
Eleanor answered:
“Her job is not yours to trade.”
“Everything in this house is mine to manage.”
Then the sound of paper sliding across wood.
Eleanor’s voice became firmer.
“These buildings belong to the employee trust.”
Victoria laughed.
“Those people should be grateful they were allowed to live there so cheaply.”
A retired chauffeur standing near the ballroom doors lowered his head.
His wife lived in one of the buildings.
The recording continued:
“Once the transfer is complete, the leases will be terminated.”
Eleanor asked:
“Where will they go?”
Victoria replied:
“That is not a family concern.”
The words changed the room.
Guests who had praised Victoria’s charity work now looked toward the staff lining the walls.
People carrying champagne.
People clearing plates.
People whose retirement homes Victoria had discussed as disposable.
Then Eleanor’s recorded voice said:
“I will not sign.”
Victoria answered:
“Then Leah leaves tonight, and tomorrow a physician will explain why you are no longer competent.”
Arthur stopped the recording.
His jaw tightened.
“You threatened to declare my wife incompetent.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I was discussing legal protection.”
Leah looked at her.
“Rich people always rename the harm after someone hears it.”
Then Arthur found the physician’s statement inside the folder.
May you like
It had been prepared before the gala.
And his own signature appeared beneath the preliminary approval.
