CHAPTER 5: An Empty Place Under the Portrait

There was one empty chair at the head table, directly beneath Martin Whitcomb's portrait.
Everyone pretended not to see it.
Martin had built Whitcomb House after the first hotel deal made him rich enough to buy privacy from men who used to ignore his calls. But Eleanor had chosen the land, negotiated the family trust, and insisted the foundation own the mansion rather than the children.
'Stone teaches heirs humility,' she had told Martin then.
He had laughed and signed exactly where she placed the pen.
Adrian had inherited his father's smile but not his discipline. He believed legacy was something passed down like cuff links, not something maintained by reading clauses at midnight.
From her chair near the kitchen, Eleanor watched him lift his glass at the wrong end of a house he did not own.
That, more than the seating chart, saddened her.