Chapter 5 - Bia Speaks the Truth
Bia stood tall, protected beneath Ricardo’s broad arm.
She looked directly down at Helena, who was panting on the floor.
"You came into my room when Mommy was sleeping," Bia said, her voice clear.
"You told me Mommy was having bad dreams and needed medicine."
"You had the brown bottle in your purse."
Helena snapped her head up, glaring at the seven-year-old with venom.
"Shut up, you wretched little brat!" Helena snarled.
The crowd recoiled in collective disgust.
The polite socialite grandmother had vanished entirely.
In her place was a cornered, vicious beast.
Julian took two slow steps toward Helena, looking down in pure horror.
"You told me Clara’s doctor prescribed those drops," Julian whispered.
"You told me she was taking experimental vitamins for fatigue."
"Julian, don't listen to them!" Helena pleaded, crawling toward him.
"I raised you like my own son after your mother passed!"
"Everything I did was for our family's stability!"
"Did you kill my sister?" Ricardo’s voice dropped low, vibrating with rage.
He stepped forward, towering over Helena.
"Did you sit by Clara's bed and watch her slowly suffocate over three months?"
Helena laughed suddenly, a short, hysterical, broken sound.
She pulled herself up using the edge of the brass candlestick.
"Clara was weak!" Helena hissed, her eyes wild.
"Her grandfather left everything to an ungrateful girl who wanted to sell the company!"
"She was going to dissolve Vance Global! She was going to give millions to charities!"
"She was destroying twenty years of my hard work!"
Murmurs rose into an angry roar among the mourners.
Board members Clara had known for decades stood up in fury.
The truth was out, confessed by Helena's own venomous tongue.
Suddenly, the pounding on the chapel doors intensified.
May you like
The heavy wooden panels shuddered against their frames.
"Open this door! Police department! Stand back!"
