“First, I want her to stop using my son.”
“Then that’s where we start.”
He sent a brief instruction to his lawyer requesting a formal notice concerning Leo’s photograph.
Chloe sat beside the hospital bed, still wearing the gown Eleanor had spent months choosing.
For the first time that night, none of us cared how it looked.
At eleven forty-seven, a hospital security officer approached the doorway.
“Mrs.
Clara?”
I turned.
“Yes?”
“There’s a woman downstairs claiming she’s your mother.”
My stomach lurched.
“Is she asking to see Leo?”
The officer hesitated.
“She’s demanding that hospital management bring you to the lobby.”
David moved beside me.
“Why?”
“She’s accompanied by an attorney and says the situation involves a family emergency.”
I felt Chloe stiffen.
“She came here?”
The officer nodded.
“She’s insisting that you’re being manipulated by your husband.”
My mother had left a ballroom full of important guests.
