If either of them returns without written permission, contact the police.”
Eleanor made a wounded sound.
“You would have me dragged out like a criminal?”
“I’m asking you to leave my home.”
“This hallway is not your home.”
“The apartment is.
The building has rules.
You broke both boundaries.”
Marcus asked Eleanor and Anthony to move toward the elevator.
Anthony remained where he was.
“What happens to the reimbursement clause?” he asked.
His mother turned toward him.
“What reimbursement clause?”
I almost admired how quickly he recognized the real danger.
Under the settlement, the disputed charges were to be deducted from a sum temporarily held in escrow.
My attorney had insisted on the holdback after discovering that Anthony had minimized his mother’s spending during financial disclosure.
The amount was substantial enough to matter to him.
I handed Marcus a copy of the signed page so there would be a neutral record of what had been shown in the hallway.
“My attorney will send the final accounting,” I told Anthony.
“The card statements through yesterday will be included.”
Eleanor looked from him to me.
“You said that money was already yours.”
“It will be,” Anthony said too quickly.
“No,” I replied.
“Not all of it.”
Her expression changed.
Until that moment, Eleanor had believed the declined card was my act of revenge against her.
Now she understood that her spending could reduce the money her son expected to receive.
For the first time, they were standing on opposite sides of the bill.
“How much?” Anthony asked.
“You’ll receive the accounting from counsel.”
“How much, Marissa?”
I closed the folder.
“Enough that you should have read what you signed.”
Eleanor grabbed his sleeve.
“You told me the purchases were covered.”
“They were supposed to be reasonable.”
“You never said reasonable.”
“I should not have needed to explain that twelve thousand dollars on accessories was unreasonable.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Accessories? That bag is an investment.”
“Then invest your own money.”
The words came from Anthony.
Eleanor stared at him as though he had struck the wall beside her.
I saw the exact instant their alliance fractured.
It was not caused by loyalty, honesty, or remorse.
It was caused by a bill neither of them could force me to pay anymore.
Marcus guided them toward the elevator.
Eleanor resisted just enough to preserve the appearance that she was choosing to leave.
Before stepping inside, she looked back at my door.
“You will regret treating me this way.”
Dana’s hand moved toward her radio.
Anthony pressed the elevator button repeatedly.
“Mother, stop talking.”
The doors closed on Eleanor’s furious face.
Only after the elevator began descending did I shut my door.
