No . . . she couldn’t do this.
She wouldn’t.
Nobody is that heartless.
“Tell me.” He listens for a moment. “What fucking charity shop, Elanor?” I hear him cry from up the aisle.
I drop to my knees in despair; she donated almost everything. Even Brad’s and my personal belongings. We had so much there, the attic was full of memories.
Mum’s Christmas decorations . . . Her china from Grandma, her tapestries. Dad’s tools. All my hobbies . . . gone?
Oh, this hurts.
I put my hand over my stomach as the air leaves my lungs.
Brad’s big arms come around me and he pulls me into an embrace and he holds me as I cry. “I’m so sorry, Kate. I’m so sorry.”
We sit at dinner, both staring into space, the mood somber and sad.
We are feeling a deep sense of loss all over again.
“I just don’t get it,” Brad says softly. “How the hell is she genetically related to us?”
I stare at his sad face, he’s as torn up about this as I am.
“Elanor looks after Elanor.” Brad sighs. “She needed the sale money and wasn’t prepared to wait for us to sort it.”
“You know, if she was going to do this, why wouldn’t she just tell us?”
“Because she knew we’d say no.”
We sit in silence for a while.
“Did she say where she was?”
“She was on a business trip.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know, probably Ibiza partying with some rich guy. You know how she operates, they fall at her feet, I don’t know how she gets them.”
“She’s beautiful, that’s how.” I sigh.
“Nobody is this fucking beautiful.”
“What is it with her and money anyway? Why does she like it so much? We aren’t like that and we were brought up in the same house.”
Brad shrugs. “You know, she’s after your boss.”
I frown. “What?”
“Yeah, we had breakfast together a few months ago and she was reading out the rich list that had just been released in the paper. Told me she was going to snag herself that Miles chap.”
The air leaves my lungs. “Which one?”
“The head one.”
“Jameson in New York?”
“No, the English head one.”
“Elliot.” My heart begins to beat fast in my chest.
“Yeah, that’s him. She brought him up on her phone and showed me a picture of him and everything.”
My eyes widen in horror. “You’ve got to be joking.” I frantically search for a picture of Elliot and I hold my phone out for Brad. “Is this him?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Reckons she already had things underway.” He rolls his eyes in disgust. “Stupid witch.”
My stomach drops; Elanor is way more suited to Elliot than I am.
I know how she operates, I know her appeal to men, they have no resistance against her.
If she really wanted him, she could have him.
Elanor is extraordinary. Dread fills my every cell.
I get a vision of her turning up at a family event with him and I feel my chest tighten. I know that one day I’m going to have to watch him with someone else.