Chapter 445

Eleanor stood frozen, her lips trembling under Margaret's stern gaze.

"You show no remorse. Instead, you're digging yourself deeper. You've single-handedly destroyed any chance they had."

Margaret's voice carried decades of disappointment as she turned to Nathan. "Do what you must, my boy. I stand with you. Your mother was wrong. But blood remains blood. Remember your manners."

The matriarch's sigh seemed to age her ten years before their eyes.

"Grandmother—"

Margaret silenced him with a raised hand, her retreating figure unusually frail.

Nathan's glacial stare pinned Eleanor in place.

"I know I've made mistakes," Eleanor whispered, twisting her hands. "I see that now."

The silence stretched like barbed wire between them.

"That land purchase for Juliette," Nathan finally spoke, each word sharp as shattered glass. "Did you use the Sterling name?"

Eleanor's breath hitched. Understanding dawned slowly. "Is that why you came today?"

Nathan ignored her question. "Do you even know who Juliette Blackwood truly is?"

When he leaned close to whisper those damning words, Eleanor collapsed like a marionette with cut strings.

Nathan didn't glance back as he strode away, leaving his mother sprawled on the marble floor.

Her anguished wails echoed through the grand foyer. "Impossible! This can't be happening!"

A butler materialized at her side. "Madam Blackwell, Mr. Sterling requests your immediate packing. The jet awaits to take you to Astana."

Eleanor scrambled backward. "No! Not Astana! I won't go back to that cursed place!"

Below, Nathan stood immobile in the courtyard, Eleanor's screams washing over him like rain against stone. His phone was already at his ear.

"Simon. I need you."

"At your service, Mr. Sterling."

"Pull all transaction records between Eleanor Blackwell and Juliette Blackwood. Every hidden account, every shell company."

A sharp inhale. "Sir, you're asking me to investigate Madam Sterling's private—"

"Email the findings directly to me." The call ended with finality.

Nathan took one last look at the gilded cage he'd called home before walking away without hesitation.

Dawn found Nathan slumped in his car, the ashtray overflowing. His bloodshot eyes tracked movement through the tinted windows.

Juliette's surprised gasp carried through the morning air as he emerged from the vehicle.

"Nathan? What are you—"

"Where are you headed so early?" His voice roughened by smoke and sleeplessness.

Juliette's smile turned feline. "Sterling Enterprises finally secured that waterfront parcel. Off to sign the paperwork." She tilted her head. "Since when do you care about my schedule?"