CHAPTER 3 — The Son Who Wanted Her Gone
By midnight, Eleanor’s only son, Richard, stormed into the hotel.
"Mother, stop this madness," he snapped. "You're embarrassing the family."
Eleanor looked at him with tired eyes.
"The family?"
She opened one final file.
Inside were photos of Richard meeting secretly with the chairman—the same man who had just been arrested.
Richard froze.
"You planned to declare me mentally unfit," Eleanor said calmly. "Then sell my hotel to foreign investors."
The ballroom went silent.
Richard’s wife whispered, "Tell them it isn't true."
But he couldn't.
Then Eleanor revealed the cruelest truth.
"I knew for six months."
Richard's knees weakened.
"You tested me?"
"No," Eleanor said. "I gave you time to become my son again."
Then she turned to the board.
"Remove him from every company position."
May you like
Richard shouted, but no one defended him.
For the first time in his life, the heir of the Astoria empire had no power left.
