Chapter 7 - Beatrice’s Reality Check
County detention was a brutal reality check for Beatrice Sterling. She had spent her entire life attending charity galas, sipping champagne on country club verandas, and looking down on anyone who didn't wear designer labels.
Now, she was wearing a scratchy, oversized orange jumpsuit, sharing a cramped concrete cell with a woman awaiting trial for armed robbery. Her perfectly dyed hair was showing stark grey roots, and her skin had lost its expensive glow.
Julian’s defense attorney, Harrison, visited her in the bleak visitor’s room, speaking through a thick plexiglass partition.
“You have to get me out of here, Harrison!” Beatrice hissed into the telephone receiver, her voice shrill with panic. “The food is inedible! The guards treat me like a common criminal! This is a violation of my human rights!”
“Beatrice, you are a criminal,” Harrison sighed, rubbing his temples. “You poured boiling oil on a woman. The grand jury indicted you for attempted murder and aggravated battery. And because of the federal auditor situation, the judge considers you a flight risk. There is no bail.”
“Use Julian’s offshore money!” she demanded. “We have accounts in the Caymans!”
“The FBI seized the Cayman accounts yesterday,” Harrison delivered the crushing blow. “Vanessa Croft, Julian’s mistress, turned state’s evidence and gave them the account numbers in exchange for immunity.”
Beatrice’s jaw dropped. “Mistress? Julian doesn't have a mistress! He’s a devoted businessman!”
May you like
“Julian was funding a twenty-four-year-old girl with Clara’s money,” Harrison corrected. “And now the federal government has seized every single dime. Beatrice... I am here to advise you to take a plea deal. If you go to trial, they will play the audio of you laughing while Clara burned. A jury will put you away for the rest of your natural life.”
Beatrice stared through the glass, her entire arrogant worldview shattering into a million pieces. She wasn't an untouchable socialite anymore. She was just an old, broke, vicious woman facing the abyss.
