Chapter 2
Arthur’s shoes clicked softly against the hardwood as he advanced past the threshold and into the sunlit living room where Maya still stood trembling. Eleanor adjusted the lapel of her pinstripe blazer, her nostrils flaring in a subtle display of rising irritation. She had expected her own legal counsel hours ago, not Faraz’s corporate bulldog. The morning sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating floating dust motes that danced indifferently around the three figures.
"You have no business being here, Arthur," Eleanor said, her voice dropping into a register of controlled venom. "This property is under my immediate administration. The probate filing was clear." She crossed her arms, her pearl earrings catching the bright glare of the midday sun.
Arthur remained entirely unperturbed by her intimidation tactics. He stopped near a mahogany side table, placing his briefcase down with a dull thud before lifting the blue folder slightly. He turned his gaze toward Eleanor, his expression smooth and devoid of malice. "Actually, Mr. Faraz left everything to his daughter," Arthur said, his tone conversational yet final, as if reading the weather forecast rather than delivering a seismic legal earthquake.
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Maya lowered her hand from her mouth, her dark eyes widening in disbelief. The weeping stopped abruptly, replaced by a profound, hollow silence that stretched across the room. She looked from Arthur’s steady face to the blue folder, the words failing to compute in her grief-addled mind. Everything? The house, the accounts, the archives of her father’s life work—all of it directed away from the woman who had ruled this estate for the past ten years?
Eleanor reacted with utter shock and disbelief, her eyes widening to an unnatural degree as the blood drained instantly from her face, leaving her skin chalky against her gray hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out for several seconds. When she finally found her voice, it was a harsh, breathless whisper born of blind panic. "Because he suspected that you would do this," Arthur added smoothly, anticipating her accusation before she could even form the words.
