ager meal in a much calmer

the empty soup bowls. It was a mundane, domestic ac

and gently took the ceramic bowls from he

ovan told her q

tion between her son and Josie. H

. He sat heavily on a worn armchair in the

said. She hurried up the sta

he physical exhaustion of the pregnant body was

. She was clutching a heavy, dark met

ight of the box. She recognized it immedi

stair and Beatrice. She stopped

o the glass coffee table. It lan

a delicate chain around her neck. She

d popp

d a thick velvet pouch. Eleanor opened the pouch, revealing a

. This was the absolute entirety of the Sterling fa

pooled in her eyes again. Her

k accounts," Eleanor whispere

oward Josie. She kept her hand resting on the cold metal

ing but resolute. "I am trusting that your love for your unborn child is real. Prove to

rmchair. He was silently endorsin

he swallowed hard. He was deeply moved by her wil

ed basic acceptance today. She didn't e

ew exactly how crucial this capital was f

rtips lightly touched the co

eanor. Her expressi

rd this with my l

She stepped forward and pulled J

sical contact, then relaxed. She gently

ing laugh erupted from

ace was twisted in a manic mix

shaking finger at the open box. "You've lost your