Chapter 7 - Desperation and Slander
When the front door slammed in Eleanor’s face, my family abandoned any pretense of reconciliation. Driven by panic and financial ruin, they did what cowards always do when their supply is cut off: they attacked.
On Wednesday morning, Vanessa launched an all-out assault on social media.
She posted a tearful, heavily filtered video on TikTok and Instagram, weeping into the camera with the caption: *“When your millionaire sister abandons her family after our brother-in-law's tragic death.”*
In the video, she sobbed: *“We tried to support her through her grief, but she has isolated herself in Daniel’s multi-million-dollar penthouse. She kicked my elderly parents out of their home of thirty years, shut down my small business that Daniel helped me start, and refuses to let my mother see her only grandchild. Grief has turned her cruel. We just want our family back.”*
The video gained fifty thousand views in six hours. Vicious comments began flooding my inactive social media accounts. strangers called me a monster, a greedy widow, a narcissistic heir.
Two hours later, Marcus Vance called my cell phone.
"Have you seen Vanessa's performance?" Marcus asked, his tone dry as bone.
"I have," I said, burping Grace over my shoulder. "Has Richard taken the bait?"
"Hook, line, and sinker," Marcus replied. "Richard hired Gerald Sterling—an ambulance-chasing probate litigator who makes his living shaking down grieving families. Sterling just served my office with an emergency petition in probate court."
"On what grounds?"
"They are challenging Daniel's will," Marcus said, a distinct note of professional relish in his voice. "They claim that due to Daniel's extensive international travel during the estimated window of conception, there is reasonable doubt regarding the paternity of the child. They are demanding a mandatory DNA paternity test and requesting that the court freeze all trust distributions—including your living expenses—pending the results. They're also asking the court to appoint Richard as interim conservator of the estate assets."
I laughed out loud. It was a pure, liberating sound.
"They really think they can win this," I marveled.
"They don't think they can win a trial, Claire," Marcus explained. "They think the threat of public humiliation and an intrusive paternity dispute will force you into a quiet, seven-figure settlement to make them go away. Sterling works on contingency; he expects a quick payout."
"What is our response, Marcus?"
"Our response," Marcus said slowly, "is a tactical carpet-bombing."
"Explain."
"First: I have preserved the security footage from the hallway outside your penthouse yesterday, showing Eleanor’s psychotic breakdown and verbal assault. Second: We have the original, notarized chain of custody from the fertility clinic, including Daniel's genetic profile, the surgical transfer logs, and the attending physician’s sworn affidavit. Third: I already have the results of Grace’s genetic panel, which the hospital ran at birth for routine hereditary screening."
"And the social media defamation?"
"Defamation per se, tortious interference with business operations, and extortion," Marcus said smoothly. "I have already filed a formal complaint with the county superior court seeking five million dollars in damages against Vanessa Montgomery. Along with an emergency ex parte injunction requiring her to delete all posts and publish a full retraction, on penalty of contempt of court and immediate incarceration."
"Do it," I said. "And Marcus?"
"Yes, Claire?"
May you like
"Call an emergency probate conference with Sterling and the judge for tomorrow morning. Tell them I will attend in person. Let’s finish this in the light of day."
***
