She Slapped Her Stepmother Before the Whole Ballroom

CHAPTER 4 - Lucia's House

The mansion belonged to Elena.

Lucia inherited it from her mother and placed it in trust for her daughter. Thomas could live there during his lifetime, but he had no authority to leave it to a second wife.

Beatrice had concealed the trust document after Lucia's death.

For nearly a decade, she hosted parties, dismissed Lucia's employees, and removed her photographs from a house she never owned.

Elena stood in the ballroom where she had slapped her stepmother.

She felt no victory.

Only exhaustion.

"I should not have hit her," she told Margaret.

"No," Margaret replied. "But admitting that does not make her innocent."

Elena issued a statement accepting responsibility for the slap. She refused to let Beatrice's crimes excuse her own loss of control.

That decision surprised the public and weakened Beatrice's attempt to portray Elena as unstable.

During the trial, retirees testified about medical treatments delayed after money vanished from the pension fund. One widow described selling her wedding ring to pay for her husband's medication.

Beatrice continued insisting she had protected the company.

"You protected your position," Elena told her. "The company survived. Some of its employees did not."

Beatrice and Dr. Cole were convicted of fraud, evidence tampering, conspiracy, and offenses connected to Thomas's death. Beatrice received a lengthy prison sentence.

Her seized assets restored part of the stolen pension money. Elena used company dividends to repay the remainder.

She did not immediately become chief executive. At twenty-two, she knew ownership did not equal experience.

She appointed an independent board that included retired employees and selected a qualified interim CEO while she completed her education.

Isabelle surrendered the shares Thomas left her.

Elena refused them.

"He wanted you to have them," she said.

"I do not deserve them."

"Then use them responsibly. That is how you prove him right."

The sisters began counseling but did not pretend that trust had already returned.

Weeks later, workers restored Lucia's photographs to the mansion.

Behind one portrait, they discovered an envelope in Thomas's handwriting.

Inside was a letter addressed jointly to Elena and Isabelle.

Its final sentence made both women cry.

"Beatrice taught you to see each other as enemies because she knew that together, neither of you would need her."