She Slapped the Maid, Then Heard "Sister"

CHAPTER 3 - The Marriage Built on a Lie

Marcus called the will outdated.

He claimed Aunt Lydia had removed Anna after discovering she was dishonest.

Celeste contacted Lydia's former attorney, sixty-three-year-old Esther Grant, who arrived before the birthday guests had left.

Esther examined Anna's documents.

"This is the original will," she confirmed. "The trust was intended for both sisters."

Marcus interrupted.

"Anna was declared dead."

"By whom?" Celeste asked.

Marcus did not answer.

Esther opened the estate records on her laptop. The death certificate Marcus had submitted belonged to another Anna Beaumont, a woman born thirty years earlier in a different country.

Celeste stared at her husband.

"You knew."

Marcus led her into the hallway and lowered his voice.

"I knew someone was claiming to be Anna. Your aunt spent years protecting the family from scandal."

"She was seven years old. What scandal could she create?"

Marcus finally lost his patience.

"If Anna returns, you lose half the estate and half the company. Everything we planned disappears."

Everything we planned.

Celeste suddenly understood that "we" had always meant Marcus.

During their three-year marriage, he had taken control of her accounts, discouraged her from attending business meetings, and convinced her she lacked the experience to manage Lydia's company.

He had not married a helpless woman.

He had worked carefully to make her feel helpless.

Anna stood at the end of the hallway, still wearing the maid's uniform.

"I don't want her company," she said. "I wanted my sister."

Marcus laughed.

"Everyone wants money eventually."

Celeste removed her wedding ring.

"Perhaps that is why you cannot understand her."

His confidence disappeared.

"You won't last one week without me."

Celeste remembered every contract he told her not to read and every decision he said was too complicated for her.

She handed the ring to Esther.

"Freeze his access to the trust."

Marcus stepped toward her.

Anna immediately moved between them.

Eighteen years earlier, Celeste had been unable to protect her little sister.

This time, Anna was protecting her.

"You kept us apart because you thought we were weaker alone," Celeste said. "You never expected us to stand together."