Chapter 14 - BEATRICE TAKES THE STAND
Beatrice insisted on testifying.
Her attorneys advised against it.
She believed she could still control a room.
For decades, confidence had been enough.
She wore a gray suit and pearl earrings.
The same earrings I had given her after opening my second spa.
The prosecutor asked why she took my Stanford letter.
“I did not take it.”
The letter had been found in her storage unit.
Her fingerprints remained on the envelope.
She changed her answer.
“I protected my son’s engagement.”
“By stealing another woman’s scholarship information?”
“Harper had already decided to stay.”
“You removed her ability to change that decision.”
“She loved Julian.”
“That is not consent to deception.”
Beatrice’s mouth tightened.
The prosecutor moved to the financial notebook.
“Did you write HARPER ASSET PLAN?”
“I monitored the family’s financial future.”
“Before Harper entered the family.”
“She was marrying my son.”
“You calculated her inheritance.”
“I was practical.”
“You calculated the value of her parents’ home.”
“I was informed.”
“You calculated what her business might produce.”
“I believed in her.”
The prosecutor allowed the absurdity to sit.
Then came the pills.
Beatrice claimed Dr. Reed misled her.
He had already testified that she requested a dose strong enough to stop resistance.
She claimed Julian misinterpreted her words.
The guesthouse recording contradicted her.
Finally, the prosecutor displayed Noah’s insurance policy.
Beatrice’s composure cracked.
“That was Julian’s idea.”
“Your name is the beneficiary.”
“He needed someone responsible.”
“The message says the boy’s condition may solve the debt.”
“I was speaking hypothetically.”
“About a child’s death?”
She looked toward the jury.
“I would never hurt a child.”
Cassandra began sobbing behind the prosecution table.
Beatrice glanced at her.
Then she said the worst possible thing.
“Noah was not raised as family.”
The courtroom went completely still.
There it was.
The belief beneath everything.
Family was not blood.
Not love.
Not responsibility.
To Beatrice, family meant membership in the group she controlled.
Anyone outside it could be used.
Anyone inside it could be sacrificed for the group’s survival.
Julian stared at his mother.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that she would have sacrificed him too.
His attorney called him to the stand the next day.
Julian claimed he never intended to kill me.
He admitted the affair.
He admitted financial fraud.
He denied knowing the pills were dangerous.
The prosecutor played his conversation with Dr. Reed.
What if she wakes up before the signature?
Give her the second one.
Julian tried to explain.
“I thought it would make her sleep longer.”
“You purchased fifteen million dollars of life insurance.”
“My financial adviser recommended it.”
“You named your mother as beneficiary.”
“She managed family assets.”
“You hid the policy from your wife.”
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
The prosecutor stared at him.
“A life insurance policy was your anniversary surprise?”
Several jurors looked disgusted.
Julian’s performance was over.
He had spent ten years selling versions of himself.
Loving husband.
Supportive partner.
Successful executive.
May you like
Victim of a controlling mother.
In the end, the only version that remained was the man who believed every person around him existed to support his comfort.
