Elena walked down the long marble hallway with a tray of hot tea in her steady hands.
She had worked as the chief housekeeper for the Sterling family for over five whole years.
The massive grand mansion stood in the most expensive neighborhood of the sunny city.
Richard Sterling was a very wealthy CEO who inherited his family estate after his parents passed away.
He was a kind and hardworking man who treated all his household employees with deep respect.
However, his new wife Clara was a very cold woman who cared only about status and money.
Clara had married Richard just eight months ago after a brief and sudden whirlwind romance.
From her very first day in the mansion, Clara disliked Elena and tried to get her fired.
She constantly made dirty messes on purpose just to watch Elena clean them up on her knees.
Elena never complained because she needed this job to pay for her young daughter's medical bills.
She quietly kept her head down and performed her duties with great pride every single day.
Richard often noticed how hard Elena worked and praised her dedication in front of the family.
That extra attention from Richard made Clara feel extremely jealous and angry inside her heart.
Clara wanted total control over the Sterling mansion and the vast family fortune.
She knew that Richard trusted Elena with the keys to every single room in the home.
Elena even held the key to the private home office where important financial documents were stored.
Clara: Put that tea down on the glass table right now, Elena.
Elena: Yes, Mrs. Sterling, I have prepared it exactly how you prefer it.
Clara: You missed a spot of dust on the wooden side table near the main entrance.
Elena: I am very sorry, ma'am, I will clean it again immediately.
Clara glared at Elena with narrow eyes as the maid turned around to grab a soft cloth.
She wanted to find a quick way to drive Elena out of the house forever.
Earlier that morning, Clara had overheard Richard talking to his top estate attorney on the phone.
Richard was planning to put a large sum of money into a private trust fund for charity.
That trust fund was established by his late mother to help low income families in need.
Clara wanted that money for herself so she could buy luxury clothes and expensive sports cars.
She knew she needed to destroy the trust fund papers before Richard could sign them that afternoon.
If the papers vanished, Clara could convince Richard to invest the capital into her personal business.
She walked up the grand spiral staircase toward the upper balcony near Richard's private office.
Elena followed carefully from a safe distance while holding her duster and clean towels.
She noticed that Clara looked very nervous and kept checking her expensive diamond wristwatch.
Something felt very wrong, and Elena decided to keep a close eye on her boss's wife.