Chapter 13: The Poisoned Apple
Chapter 13: The Poisoned Apple
Eleanor wasted no time launching her public assault. By the end of the week, sensational headlines flooded social media and local news networks: MONTGOMERY FRAUD? FOUNDATION FUNDS FROZEN AMIDST ILLEGITIMATE HEIR SCANDAL.
Someone had leaked a highly edited audio clip to the press. It was a recording of Ethan, heavily spliced and taken out of context, making it sound as though he admitted to hiding his father's true will. The internet exploded with outrage. The foundation’s donors began pulling their funding.
"It's a setup," Ethan said, pacing the length of their bedroom, his hands running frantically through his hair. "She’s choking the foundation’s cash flow. If we don’t resolve this by the end of the month, the children's hospital wing will have to shut down its construction."
Clara sat at her laptop, her eyes burning as she scrolled through the vicious comments online. Strangers were calling them thieves and demanding justice for "the forgotten orphan." It was a masterclass in psychological warfare. Eleanor was manipulating the public's empathy to mask her greed.
"She wants us to panic," Clara said, closing the laptop with a definitive snap. "She wants us to offer her a settlement to make the PR nightmare go away. But she made one mistake, Ethan."
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Ethan stopped pacing. "What mistake?"
"She brought the forged document to our home," Clara said, her eyes narrowing with fierce determination. "Which means the proof of her fraud is somewhere in the East Wing. We are going to find it."
