Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER'S WATCH
William stared at the photograph until his vision blurred.
Brooke and Thomas. Standing on a marina in Florida, smiling at the camera.
Thomas had been cast out of the Harrington family twelve years ago for embezzling funds from their father’s hardware store. William had publicly cut ties with him, using Thomas’s disgrace to bolster his own image as the honest, self-made businessman of the family.
But Brooke had only been in William's life for two years. How did she know Thomas five years ago?
The front door chimed.
William shoved the photograph into his pocket and walked out of the office. Standing in the grand foyer was Brooke. Her makeup was slightly smudged, and she was clutching her designer purse like a shield.
"How did you get past the gate code?" William demanded, his voice echoing in the vaulted ceiling.
"I still have the remote you gave me," she said defensively. "William, you have to listen to me. Sterling Vanguard set me up. They told me it was just a temporary hold on the shares. I didn't know they were going to contact the SEC."
William walked slowly toward her. "Where did you get that diamond necklace, Brooke?"
Brooke frowned, stepping back. "You bought it for me. For my birthday."
"Take it off," William ordered.
"What? No, William, please—"
"Take it off!" he shouted, his face turning red.
Trembling, Brooke unclasped the necklace and handed it to him. William turned it over. He had paid eighty thousand dollars for it three weeks ago. He had told the jeweler to engrave Brooke's initials on the back of the pendant.
But as he looked at the gold backing, there were no initials.
Instead, engraved into the metal were three words: For Eleanor, Always.
William's breath hitched. It was the exact necklace Eleanor had admired in the store. He had bought it for his wife for their thirtieth anniversary, but at the last minute, he had given it to Brooke instead, too lazy to shop for a second gift.
He had never checked the back.
Brooke realized what he was looking at. Her face flushed with humiliation. "You gave me your wife's jewelry?"
"You've been sleeping with my brother," William fired back, pulling the black-and-white photograph from his pocket and throwing it at her feet.
Brooke looked down at the photo. The remaining color drained from her face.
"Thomas sent you," William realized, the sickening truth washing over him. "He didn't just introduce us at that charity gala. He planted you. He wanted to destroy my marriage and steal my company from the inside."
Brooke didn't deny it. She looked up at him, her eyes hardening into something cold and calculating. "Thomas didn't have to work very hard, William. You were practically begging for an excuse to leave Eleanor. You threw thirty years away because I smiled at you."
"Get out of my house," William sneered. "Before I call the police for corporate espionage."
"It's not your house anymore," a quiet voice said from the top of the stairs.
William and Brooke both looked up.
Eleanor stood on the landing. She was wearing a simple gray cardigan and slacks. She looked completely calm. She held a small, polished wooden box in her hands.
"Eleanor," William said, his voice instantly dropping its aggression. He tried to sound authoritative, like a husband who had simply made a minor mistake. "We need to talk about these ridiculous legal filings. You're destroying the company over a misunderstanding."
Eleanor walked slowly down the stairs. She didn't look at Brooke. She walked straight past her husband and set the wooden box on the foyer table.
"Miriam warned me you would try to negotiate, William," Eleanor said softly. "But there is nothing left to negotiate. The Lake Forest estate belongs to the trust. You have until tomorrow morning to remove your personal belongings."
"You can't do this!" William yelled, his panic returning. "I built this life for us! I made the money!"
Eleanor opened the wooden box. Inside sat a heavy gold pocket watch. It had a cracked glass face and a deep scratch across the back.
William stopped breathing.
It was his father’s watch. The one Thomas had allegedly stolen twelve years ago, leading to his exile from the family.
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"Where did you get that?" William whispered.
"Thomas mailed it to me yesterday," Eleanor replied, her eyes locking onto William's. "Along with a letter. Would you like to know what it said, William? Or should we wait for the federal investigators to read it to you?"
