Chapter 4 - The Drive to Long Island
Ten minutes later, a sleek, black luxury sedan pulled out of the JFK airport terminal pickup zone, its tinted windows gliding past the concrete overpasses as it accelerated onto the highway heading east toward Long Island.
Inside the quiet, leather-trimmed cabin, sixty-four-year-old Raymond sat in the front passenger seat, his eyes fixed on the rain-dusted windshield.
In the back seat, thirty-two-year-old Elena sat huddled against the plush leather, her grey wool cardigan wrapped tightly around herself. Four-year-old Leo was still sound asleep in her lap, his little face resting peacefully against her chest, completely unaware of the corporate war brewing around his existence.
Raymond looked at his daughter-in-law through the rear-view mirror.
"How long has she been coming to the cottage, Elena?" Raymond asked quietly.
Elena swallowed hard, her red eyes staring out the window at the passing autumn trees. "Since the second month after Liam’s funeral. At first, she said she was just managing his accounts. Then she started bringing papers... telling me I needed to sign away my rights to Liam's trust fund if I wanted a monthly allowance for Leo."
Raymond’s hand tightened around his seat armrest until his knuckles turned white.
"She threatened to take Leo away from me, Raymond," Elena whispered, tears welling in her eyes again. "She said a foreign-born mother with no personal income would lose a custody battle in a New York court against the Mercer family legal team."
Raymond took a slow, deep breath, regulating his pulse. "Beatrice has no power over you, Elena. None. The only reason she was handling Liam's affairs was because I was too blind with my own grief to see what she was doing."
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He turned his head to look back at little Leo sleeping peacefully.
"Liam loved you more than his own life," Raymond added softly, his voice cracking with rare emotion. "And as long as I am breathing, no one will ever tear his family apart."
