Chapter 6 - The Designer Bags
Brooke cared more about the handbags than the legal notice.
That told Eleanor everything.
Not the termination clause.
Not the warning about financial review.
Not the fact that the house she had ruled for months was no longer available to her.
The handbags.
“My Hermès is not household property,” Brooke snapped.
The inventory supervisor checked the tablet.
“Purchased March 14 with the Whitmore household account.”
Brooke’s mouth tightened.
“That was a gift.”
Eleanor’s eyebrows lifted.
“From whom?”
Brooke glared at her.
“You said I could order things for the house.”
“A handbag is not a house.”
A security officer coughed once, trying not to react.
Brandon looked down.
Brooke saw that and exploded.
“Why are you standing there? She is humiliating me!”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Humiliation is dirty laundry at someone’s feet.”
Brooke went silent.
The words landed with the weight of the morning.
Brandon stared at his mother.
Eleanor’s face was calm, but her hands were not.
They trembled slightly around her purse handle.
Brandon saw it.
He hated himself for not seeing sooner.
Whitaker arrived then, stepping out of the black car with measured calm.
“Eleanor.”
She nodded.
“Samuel.”
Brooke turned to him.
“You cannot do this.”
Whitaker opened his folder.
“I can provide explanations, but I advise you to read before objecting. It may be a new experience, but it will help.”
Brooke’s eyes widened.
Brandon almost smiled.
Then remembered why they were there.
Whitaker continued.
“You and Brandon were permitted to occupy the residence under temporary terms. Those terms have been breached.”
Brooke pointed at Eleanor.
“She is overreacting because I asked her to do laundry.”
Eleanor looked at the basket still visible through the kitchen window.
“You ordered me to cancel a brunch Arthur’s friends planned in his memory.”
Brooke blinked.
Brandon turned toward her.
“What?”
Eleanor’s voice softened.
“I was not going shopping. I was meeting Arthur’s old partners. Today would have been his birthday.”
Brandon’s face crumpled.
He had forgotten.
Brooke had known.
Because Eleanor mentioned it the night before.
Start cleaning.
Those words had not been random.
They had been chosen to remind Eleanor that Brooke believed Arthur was gone, and with him, Eleanor’s protection.
Brandon whispered, “Mom…”
Eleanor held up one hand.
“Not yet.”
Whitaker looked at Brooke.
“The household credit review also shows over forty-three thousand dollars in unauthorized charges over seven months.”
Brooke scoffed.
“That’s impossible.”
Whitaker turned a page.
“Spa memberships. Wardrobe purchases. Personal travel upgrades. Jewelry insurance. Cosmetic treatments. Designer goods.”
Brooke’s face drained.
Brandon stared at her.
“You told me those were house expenses.”
Brooke snapped, “They were part of maintaining appearances.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“For whom?”
Brooke’s answer did not come.
Because the truth was too ugly.
For herself.
For control.
May you like
For the fantasy that she had inherited Eleanor’s life before Eleanor was finished living it.
👉 Brooke claimed she was managing the household, but the credit review showed she had been spending Eleanor’s money to dress herself like the owner.
