Page 74 of Branded

“What changed?”

“I left.” Eleanor turns to face me. “Took Nathaniel and Sebastian and moved into town. I told him I wouldn’t come back until he learned to treat me like a partner instead of a possession. It took him six months. Six months of living separately, six months of people in this community knowing we were apart, and of him realizing what he’d lose if I actually left, before he figured out how to be a husband instead of a dictator.”

“And you came back?”

“I did. Because he proved he could change. Could see me as more than just someone to smile on his arm. He respected my autonomy while still being part of a partnership.” She turns and grabs a bottle of wine off the table behind her and pours a glass for each of us. “But it took him losing me first. Facing the real possibility that I’d leave and take half his life with me before he understood what he was destroying.”

“I can’t leave. The contract I signed won’t allow that. You were years into your marriage.” I shake my head. It all seems so simple, but in reality, it’s anything but.

“Fuck the contract.” Eleanor’s curse is so unexpected I almost laugh. “Legal documents only have power if you don’t know the right people. And despite what Sebastian thinks, that contract isn’t as airtight as he believes. I’ve had lawyers review it.”

“You what?”

“As soon as I heard Sebastian had made a purchase at the auction, I had my personal attorney pull the contract. Don’t tell Caroline I have someone other than her dealing with sensitive legal matters. They all think I’m oblivious to life around me other than the parties and charities, but, dear, I make this place run. Nothing happens here that I don’t know about.” She reaches for her wine and takes a sip.

“I wanted to know what kind of agreement he’d signed.” Eleanor’s eyes are hard. “It’s enforceable? Yes. But there are clauses, vague language about ‘reasonable accommodations’ and ‘mutual respect’ that could be challenged if you had good legal representation. And, darling, you’d have the best.” She smiles slyly, and I can’t help but smile back at her.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to know you have options. You’re not as trapped as Sebastian wants you to believe. And if he continues down this path, treating you like property, threatening you, using that contract as a weapon, there are ways to fight back that don’t involve you staying miserable for two years. At least you were smart enough not to sign a lifetime contract.” She shifts on her chair and crosses her legs.

The information settles over me like armor. Not enough to feel safe, but enough to feel less powerless.

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

“Don’t thank me yet. Because here’s the hard truth, Lennox.” Eleanor leans forward. “If you want Sebastian to change, you have to be willing to hurt him. Really hurt him. Make him face consequences for treating you this way, otherwise he’ll just keep doing it because he’s never learned any different.”

“How do I hurt someone who doesn’t see me as a person?”

“You make him see you. You prove you’re essential to something he cares about. And then you threaten to take it away.” Eleanor’s smile is sharp. “Walker doesn’t care about losing a wife. But he cared more about losing his partner than about building an empire. His equal in every way that mattered. Once I proved I was that, once he saw what losing me would actually cost, he changed.”

“I’m not essential to anything⁠—”

“Aren’t you? You recovered twenty-three head of cattle that had been written off as lost. You’ve impressed Walker, though he’d never admit it, you won over Caroline, and charmed the twins. In a few weeks, you’ve made yourself valuable to this family in ways Sebastian doesn’t even know.” She takes my hand. “Use that. Make him see that treating you like property means losing something irreplaceable. Make the consequences real.”

“And if he doesn’t change?”

“Then you leave. Two years or not, contract or not. Because no amount of money is worth destroying yourself for a man who refuses to see your worth. Especially when it isn’t your debt to pay.” Eleanor squeezes my hand. “I nearly lost myself to Walker’s control before I stood up to him. I won’t watch Sebastian do the same thing to you.”

Before I can respond, gravel crunches outside. A truck door slams. Heavy footsteps approaching.

Sebastian’s back.

Eleanor and I look at each other, and I see steel in her eyes. “Remember what I said. You have options. You have power. Don’t let him convince you otherwise.”

The door to the conservatory opens, and Sebastian stands there, his face dark with fury.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demands, looking at me. “I told you to stay at the house.”

“And I told her to have lunch with me,” Eleanor says calmly. “Unless you’ve started dictating where I eat as well?”

“Mom, stay out of this.”

“No.” Eleanor stands, moving between us. “You don’t get to come into my space and bark orders at your wife like she’s livestock. If you want to have a conversation like adults, fine. Otherwise, get out.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenches, and I can see the war playing across his face. The urge to assert control versus the reality that he can’t command his own mother.

“I need to talk to Lennox. Alone.”