CHAPTER 10: Adrian Counts the Doors Closing

Adrian's phone began to vibrate before dessert was served.
He looked at the screen and did not answer. Then it vibrated again. A lender. A board member. His private counsel. The renovation contractor who had been promised payment from funds Adrian had no authority to touch.
The noise was almost delicate against the heavy silence of the dining room.
Eleanor knew that sound. It was the sound of borrowed power asking to be returned.
'Mother,' Adrian said, using the word as though it still granted him protection. 'This is not the place.'
'You made it the place when you seated me beside the kitchen door,' Eleanor replied.
Vanessa whispered his name, but Adrian did not look at her. He was busy discovering how quickly a room could stop believing in him.
The bank chairman pushed his chair back an inch, just enough to become neutral.