The next morning, Eleanor woke with a new clarity and a hardened resolve. If Victor wanted a war, she needed to be strategic. Emotional outbursts would only play into his narrative of her instability. She started with her medication. For months, she had unquestioningly taken the pills Victor gave her each morning and night—a cocktail of painkillers, muscle relaxants, and sleep aids prescribed by various specialists.

  • «Martina,» she asked during their next therapy session, «could you look at something for me?»

She showed Martina the collection of pill bottles from her medicine cabinet. Martina examined each one, her expression growing more concerned.

  • «Eleanor, how long have you been on this combination?»
  • «About eight months. Why?»

Martina pointed to two of the bottles.

  • «This muscle relaxant, at this dosage, would make anyone feel foggy and disoriented. And this drug… it’s not even prescribed for your type of injury anymore. It’s known to cause memory problems and confusion with long-term use.»

A cold dread settled in Eleanor’s stomach.

  • «Victor manages my medication schedule. He says it’s too complicated for me to keep track of while I’m on them.»

Martina’s face was grim.

  • «I think it’s time you got a second opinion. From a neurologist of your own choosing.»

Dr. Sara Winters, the neurologist Martina recommended, reviewed Eleanor’s medical history with growing alarm.

  • «Mrs. Miller, several of these drugs are contraindicated for your condition, and the dosages are unusually high.» She looked at Eleanor. «Who has been managing your medication regimen?»
  • «My primary care physician, Dr. Harris,» Eleanor answered. «He works closely with my husband.»

Dr. Winters frowned.

  • «I see a lot of prescriptions from different specialists, but limited communication between them.» She hesitated. «With your permission, I’d like to run a full blood panel and work out a more appropriate treatment plan.»

The blood tests confirmed Dr. Winters’ suspicions. Eleanor’s system had higher levels of certain drugs than prescribed, indicating someone had been increasing her doses without medical authority.

  • «This combination would absolutely cause fatigue, confusion, and memory lapses,» Dr. Winters explained gently. «It might have even been slowing your physical recovery.»

Under the doctor’s guidance, Eleanor began to slowly taper off the unnecessary medications. The withdrawal was difficult, but within two weeks, she felt a profound difference. Her mind was sharper, her energy improved, and most tellingly, her physical therapy sessions showed remarkable progress.

  • «You’ve made more gains in the last 10 days than you did in the previous three months,» Martina noted during one particularly successful session.

Meanwhile, Eleanor continued to gather evidence against Victor, now with a clear mind and a renewed sense of purpose. She hired a private investigator, a woman recommended by Dr. Winters, who had sadly seen similar cases of medical manipulation in her practice. The investigator, Clara Jenkins, was efficient and discreet. Within days, she provided Eleanor with a detailed timeline of Victor’s relationship with Olivia Rhodes, including proof that they had been involved for over 16 months—well before Eleanor’s accident.

  • «They met at a development conference in Chicago,» Clara explained, showing Eleanor photos from the event. «According to my sources, she was hired at Miller Development less than a month later.»

Eleanor stared at the images of Victor and Olivia at a hotel bar, his hand resting low on her back. The time stamp was from February of the previous year, three months before her accident.

  • «There’s something else you should know,» Clara continued, a new edge in her voice. «I looked into the inspection records for the construction site where your accident happened. The temporary platform that collapsed… it was flagged for reinforcement a week prior. The work order was signed off as completed, but there’s no record of the repair ever actually being done.»
  • Eleanor frowned. «That happens on busy sites sometimes. Paperwork gets ahead of the actual work.»
  • «True,» Clara agreed. «But the signature on the completion form… it belongs to Victor Miller.»

Eleanor’s blood ran cold.

  • «Are you suggesting Victor knew that platform was unsafe when I went to the site?»

Clara chose her words carefully.

  • «I’m saying the timing is questionable. The accident happened three weeks after Ms. Rhodes was hired, on a site Victor personally signed off as safe, despite documented structural concerns.»

The implication was almost too monstrous to comprehend. Eleanor had always assumed her fall was a tragic accident. The thought that Victor might have knowingly allowed her to use unsafe equipment was unthinkable. Yet as she reviewed the evidence Clara had gathered, a disturbing pattern emerged.

After her accident, Victor had taken control of her medical care with surprising efficiency. He had insisted on certain doctors, managed all her medications, and slowly isolated her from colleagues and friends.

  • «It’s too much for you right now,» he would say whenever she mentioned visiting the office or attending industry events. «Just focus on getting better.»

Eleanor reached out to Diane again, this time with more specific questions about her attempt to return to work six months after the accident.

  • «I always thought that was strange,» Diane admitted. «You were supposed to come back part-time. Your office was all set up, and then suddenly Victor announced you’d had a setback and needed more time.»
  • «I don’t remember any setback,» Eleanor said slowly. «Victor told me the accessibility accommodations weren’t ready yet.»

Diane’s silence was telling.

  • «Eleanor, the accommodations were finished two weeks ahead of schedule. I oversaw them myself.»

The picture that was forming was profoundly disturbing. Victor wasn’t just having an affair; he had been systematically undermining Eleanor’s recovery and independence, building a narrative that she was too fragile and mentally unstable to function professionally.

With Martina’s help, Eleanor connected with a rehabilitation specialist who designed an intensive therapy program away from Victor’s watchful eye. Three times a week, while Victor thought she was attending «art therapy» sessions—a gentle activity he had suggested and was supposedly run by Martina’s cousin—Eleanor was secretly working to rebuild her strength and mobility. The progress was slow but steady. As the unnecessary drugs left her system, Eleanor found she could stand for longer periods and even take a few halting steps—milestones Victor had repeatedly told her were unlikely given her condition.

  • «He was never in the appointments, was he?» Eleanor asked Martina one day. «The ones where he was supposedly told my prognosis was poor.»

Martina shook her head.

  • «I pulled your complete medical charts. Multiple specialists noted good potential for significant recovery with aggressive physical therapy. Therapy that Victor constantly canceled or rescheduled.»

Armed with this knowledge, Eleanor contacted Rafael Dominguez, a lawyer who specialized in elder abuse and financial fraud cases. While she wasn’t elderly, Rafael explained that many of the same legal protections applied to disabled individuals being exploited by caregivers or family members.

  • «What you’re describing is a classic case of medical gaslighting and financial exploitation,» Rafael explained during their confidential meeting. «The medication tampering alone is potentially criminal.»
  • «I have to be careful,» Eleanor explained. «Victor has significant resources and connections, and he’s been documenting my supposed ‘mental instability’ to use against me.»

Rafael nodded grimly.

  • «Then we document everything, and we prepare for the right moment. Most importantly, we ensure your physical safety while we build the case.»

Safety had become a real concern. As Eleanor tapered her meds and became more lucid, Victor’s behavior grew more controlling. He had a security system installed that sent him alerts whenever exterior doors were opened. He started checking her pill bottles to ensure she was sticking to her medication schedule, forcing Eleanor to devise elaborate schemes to maintain her charade.

Through Clara’s investigation, Eleanor discovered something even more alarming: Victor had been consulting with a lawyer specializing in conservatorships for mentally incapacitated adults.

  • «He’s laying the groundwork to take legal control of your affairs,» Rafael warned when Eleanor shared the information. «We need to accelerate our timeline.»

Eleanor agreed, but she insisted on being thorough.

  • «I want him fully exposed. Not just the affair, but all of it—the financial fraud, the medical manipulation, and his potential role in my accident.»