Trial Begins

The fluorescent lights buzzed above her, sharp and cold, their hum crawling down the narrow hallway of the women’s holding block.

Posy sat slouched on the metal bench inside her cell, her once-perfect hair now a tangled curtain around her face. Her nails that once tapped across champagne flutes were chipped, faint traces of nude polish clinging stubbornly to the edges.

It had been three weeks since the night of the wedding. The night her entire life had collapsed on screen for the world to see.

The tabloids had a field day for certain.

‘Balmero Heiress Exposed.’

‘From Diamond to Dirt. Posy Balmero’s Fall From Grace.’

“Fraud, Drugs, and Deception: The Heiress Who Tried to Destroy Her Sister.’

Each headline was a reminder that she had no control anymore. She’d begged the guards for a newspaper that first week, desperate to know what the world was saying, but when she saw her own face staring back at her, disheveled, mid-scream, she’d torn it to shreds.

Now, she just stared at the wall. Waiting.

The footsteps came at last, expensive shoes clicking on the concrete floors.

The kind she used to recognize immediately in the vast marble halls of the elite society. Adam Balmero.

Posy’s head jerked up, eyes wide.

“Dad..”

Her voice cracked on the word. She rose to her feet so quickly the chains at her wrists clinked.

Behind him, her mother appeared, elegant as ever even in her grief. Gina's coat was cream, her heels quiet against the concrete floor. But her face? Her face looked carved from stone.

Posy tried to smile, but it trembled and broke halfway. “You came.”

Adam regarded her through the glass wall that separated the cell from the visitation space. His jaw was tight, his once tired face now radiated with some youth.

He nodded stiffly to the guard. “Five minutes.”

The guard unlocked the door and motioned for Posy to step out. She did, hands trembling, the cuffs weighing down her every movement.

The table she sat at was cold. The chains clanked when she rested her hands on it.

“Mum,” she whispered, her eyes glistening. “You…you don’t know how good it is to see you both. You have to help me get out of here. Please. I shouldn’t be here…”

Adam raised a hand, and the words died on her tongue.

“Enough.”

Posy flinched as though struck. For a second, she was seven years old again, cowering under the stern gaze of a father who never tolerated excuses.

“Dad, I…”

“Do you have any idea,” he cut in, his voice low and calm, “what you’ve done to this family?”

Posy blinked rapidly. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I was just….”

Gina’s eyes flashed with disdain. “Keep Thea's name out of your mouth.”

Posy swallowed hard, desperate. “But it was her fault! She humiliated me. She took everything that was mine. I just wanted her to suffer a little, that’s all. I didn’t mean for it to go this far. You have to believe me..”

Her mother’s hand slammed onto the table. “Enough!”

The sound echoed through the visitation room, startling even the guard by the door.

Gina leaned forward, eyes glittering with disgust. “You drugged your sister on her engagement night, Posy. You hired a man to destroy her reputation. You hated your sister that much...”

“I didn’t…”

“Don’t you dare deny it!” Gina hissed. “The whole world saw the evidence. Do you know how it feels to find out that my daughter that I blindly defended is a criminal?! Do you know what it’s like to see Thea being dragged through the mud because of your selfishness?”

Posy’s lips trembled. “I didn’t mean to..”

“Intent doesn’t erase the damage.”

Her father’s voice was ice.

Then Posy broke. “Please,” she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. “You can’t leave me here. You’re the Balmero’s! You can fix this, right? You always fix things.”

Adam's gaze didn’t soften. “You think this is one of your little scandals we can sweep under the rug?”

“I’m your daughter!” she cried. “You can’t just…just abandon me!”

“You stopped being a Balmero the day you decided to drag Thea's name through the dirt,” Adam said quietly.

The words sliced through her like glass.

Her breath hitched. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” he said. “You’ve made enemies out of every business partner we had. Investors are pulling out. Do you have any idea what that means? What your actions cost this family?”

“I was trying to prove myself!” she snapped back, desperation rising. “Thea was the golden child! She had everything I ever wanted! She wanted Runes, she…”

“Runes?” Her father’s brows lifted in disdain. “The man who is now in jail for fraud? That’s who you were protecting?”

The air left her lungs.

Gina leaned back, her voice sharp. “You tied yourself to a criminal and then destroyed an innocent woman out of jealousy. Do you have any idea how pathetic that sounds?”

Posy felt like the ground was crumbling beneath her.

Her chest heaved. “You’re supposed to be on my side,” she whispered.

Gina’s lips curled. “We were, until we realized you’re beyond saving.”

Something in Posy cracked. Her voice rose, wild. “You’re just ashamed of me! You don’t even care that I’m stuck in this filthy place. You only care about your reputation!”

Adam’s eyes were dark. “At least one of us still has one.”

She froze. The silence that followed was louder than her screams could have been.

For the first time, she saw her father not as the unshakable man she’d always tried to please but as a stranger who could barely stand to look at her.

“Dad, please…” she whispered, voice breaking. “I can’t survive here. They hate me. They throw things, they…please, I’ll do anything. Just get me out.”

His face remained unreadable. “You’ll serve your time.”

“What?” she breathed. “No…no, you can’t do that…”

Gina rose from her seat, collecting her handbag. “Maybe this is what you need, Posy. A reality check.”

“Mum….please! Don’t leave me here! I’m your daughter!”

Gina paused at the door, her expression unreadable. “You were our daughter. Now you’re just a reminder of everything we failed to teach.”

Posy’s knees hit the cold floor as the words tore through her.

Adam gave one last look; not of anger, not even disappointment. Just cold finality.

“When your trial begins, we will not be in attendance. You’ll answer for your own sins.”

And with that, they left.

The door closed behind them with a hollow clang, and the guard turned to her, pity flickering briefly across his face.

“Visit’s over.”

The chains clinked as she was led back to her cell.

Posy stumbled inside, the cold air biting at her skin. The door shut with a metallic thud.

For a long time, she just stood there, staring at the wall where a faint scratch marked her height from the first night she was brought in.

The tears came quietly at first, then louder until her sobs filled the cell.

No more spa dates. No more silk sheets or champagne mornings. No more admirers telling her she was beautiful, untouchable, Balmero.

Just concrete. Silence. And the echo of her mother’s voice…

‘You were our daughter. Now you’re just a reminder of everything we failed to teach.’

She pressed her hands over her ears, as if that could block it out.

But it stayed. It always stayed.

By the time she slumped onto the floor, her breathing slowed, ragged and uneven.

For the first time in her life, Posy realized what it meant to be completely, utterly alone.

"Thea!!" she screamed, eyes red with rage. "That bloody witch ruined everything!!"