Chapter 10 - THE FALL OF ELEANOR WHITMORE
Confined to a private VIP room at Chicago General Hospital,
Eleanor Whitmore watched her empire burn.
Her health had deteriorated rapidly following the broadcast of my investigative interview.
The stress of impending criminal indictments and public disgrace proved too much for her fragile heart.
Her once-luxurious hospital room felt like a sterile,
suffocating tomb devoid of warmth or loyalty.
None of her high-society friends came to visit her; they had scrubbed her name from their contact lists.
Even her social club membership had been revoked by unanimous vote of the board of directors.
Her husband Conrad was rotting in a federal detention center awaiting trial for bribery and fraud.
Her son Grant was living out of his luxury sports car,
dodging process servers and angry creditors.
Eleanor stared blankly out the reinforced window at the grey Chicago skyline fading into dusk.
The door swung open slowly,
and a nurse announced a visitor carrying a special delivery.
I walked into the room wearing an elegant cashmere coat,
holding a single white orchid in my hand.
Eleanor gasped,
trying to sit up in her adjustable bed,
her face twisting in pure malice.
She hissed at me to get out of her sight,
calling me an ungrateful,
venomous parasite.
I walked calmly to the side of her bed,
placing the white orchid gently on her bedside table.
I told her that flowers were customary when visiting someone whose life had officially expired.
Eleanor cursed my name,
screaming that the Whitmore family would rise again from the ashes.
I leaned down slightly,
whispering softly into her trembling ear that empires built on deceit never rise again.
I reminded her of every cruel remark she ever made about my background and my supposed infertility.
I told her that her precious bloodline was tainted forever by the very mistress she welcomed into her home.
Eleanor clutched her chest as the heart monitor beside her began beeping with an escalating,
frantic rhythm.
Nurses rushed into the room shouting code blue,
pushing me gently toward the exit doors.
I turned around and walked out of the hospital without looking back once,
May you like
leaving her to face the dark void.
==================================================
