Chapter 3 - The Dark Interrogation
Eleanor paced violently back and forth across her luxurious penthouse living room.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she read the text message from her spy at the Sterling estate.
She screamed in pure frustration and hurled her crystal wine glass against the wall, watching it shatter into a hundred pieces.
"This cannot be happening!" she hissed to herself, grabbing her hair in panic.
For ten years, Eleanor had carefully positioned herself to be the sole heir to Arthur Sterling's massive fortune.
She had played the role of the perfect, caring surrogate daughter after his real daughter went missing.
She had even convinced the board of directors that Arthur's mind was slipping, planning to take control of his company next month.
And now, a filthy little street rat with a broken necklace had ruined everything in a matter of seconds.
Eleanor walked over to her safe, quickly spinning the dial and pulling out a secret, locked file.
Inside the file were photographs of Sarah, Arthur's missing daughter.
There were also bank statements detailing illegal payments made to a private investigator decades ago.
Eleanor had always known exactly where Sarah was hiding.
In fact, Eleanor was the very reason Sarah had run away in the first place.
Many years ago, a young Eleanor had forged threatening letters and manipulated bank accounts to make Sarah believe her own father wanted her dead.
Sarah, terrified and pregnant, had fled into the night, hiding in the poorest slums of the city to protect her unborn baby.
Eleanor had paid local thugs to ensure Sarah never found a decent job and never contacted her father.
When Sarah finally died of a preventable illness a month ago, Eleanor thought her secret was buried forever.
She never expected the child to survive, let alone wander into the most exclusive charity gala in the city.
Her phone rang suddenly, making her jump in shock.
She looked at the caller ID and cursed under her breath before answering.
"What do you want, Marcus?" Eleanor snapped, trying to keep her voice steady.
"I saw the news, Eleanor," a deep, gravelly voice chuckled on the other end of the line.
"Looks like the old man finally found his long-lost grandchild."
"Shut up and tell me what you are doing to fix this!" Eleanor screamed into the receiver.
"You promised me the mother and the brat were dealt with!"
"The mother is dead, just like you paid for," Marcus replied coldly.
"The kid slipped away before my men could grab her, but it doesn't matter now."
"It absolutely matters, you idiot!" Eleanor yelled.
"If Arthur runs a DNA test and confirms she is his blood, I lose billions of dollars!"
Marcus sighed, the sound of a match striking echoing through the phone.
"Calm down, Eleanor," Marcus said smoothly.
"The kid is just a little girl, and accidents happen in big, old mansions all the time."
Eleanor's eyes narrowed as a wicked, desperate plan began to form in her mind.
"I want her gone, Marcus," she whispered, her voice dripping with pure venom.
"I don't care how much it costs or how you do it."
"Consider it done," Marcus replied before the line went dead.
Eleanor smiled, looking at her reflection in the dark window of her penthouse.
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She was not going to let a pathetic little orphan steal her empire.
She would destroy Lily just like she had destroyed her mother.
