As she recognized the woman as Elizabet Van Rothenburg, a host of other memories came flooding back nearly drowning her with their intensity. She remembered almost everything now except for how she ended up in the hospital in the first place.
She remembered her name was Elvira and that she was 39 years old. She was also a very successful businesswoman and restauranter. Or at least she had been before she ended up on life support in the hospital.
She began to wonder what was happening with her businesses. She owned several eateries, bars, and bakeries that were quite lucrative. She even had her own distilleries for hard liquors, a cidery, and a winery. If it was edible or drinkable, she could make it. And she could make it both extraordinarily delicious and immensely profitable too.
Just before her untimely accident, she had been working on her most ambitious project yet. She had been preparing her own lines of sauces, jams, jellies, salad dressings, seasoning blends, dip and soup mixes, and various condiments to be sold in her own boutique grocery store. She had been finalizing her plans for these items with her grandfather's corporate lawyer who would help her with the copyrights on her recipes and patents on manufacturing processes and production methods. Obviously, her accident had put all of this on hold indefinitely.
The next visitor came on the following day. This time it was her biological father, Shayne McLoughlin.
He moved one of the chairs to within two feet of her bed. And he sat facing her. Already this was more affection than her so-called mother had shown her. But, like her mother previously, he too looked upon her with scorn and derision.
"Your grandfather is wasting our money on this farce. The doctors say you won't recover."
He looked around the room as he muttered. "But we can't pull the plug on you for at least another month. Your grandfather has it all tied up legally. So, there's nothing we can do but continue to pay for your corpse to be kept alive artificially at over fifty thousand dollars a day." He snorted with contempt. "Such a waste."
He continued ranting. "And it seems to be an ironclad deal. Your brothers have been busy fighting it out in court. But your grandfather's best friend is the finest lawyer in the country. It is only wasting more of our time and money. And there is little chance of success. I'm about to tell them to cut their losses and withdraw the suit. Even though the doctors are on our side, my father is a stubborn old bastard who favors you above everyone else."
"Your sisters have been trying another tactic. They have been pleading with your grandfather to let you die with 'dignity.' But he remains steadfast."
"I always thought Priscilla, Alicia, and Raquel were charming. They have certainly been able to convince many men to do their bidding no matter how ridiculous. But your grandfather is not easily swayed. No matter how much they cry and plead and cajole, they cannot sway his opinion."
He was not implying that his daughters were attempting to seduce their grandfather to get their way. He would never condone that. He was unscrupulous and would do almost anything to get what he wanted with the exception of even hinting at incest.
Her sisters were simply trying to play on their grandfather's sympathies and sense of honor. But he refused to believe his favorite granddaughter was beyond help. He had never been a very religious man – he had always relied on his own ingenuity and hard work. But he was praying to any and every god that would listen to save his beloved granddaughter.
Hiring a woman to be a honeytrap was of no use either. His father was immune to the charms of women. Other than his beloved wife, of course. When she passed away a few years ago, his father never even looked at another woman for even his most basic needs. So, trying to find a woman to seduce him was out of the question. There appeared to be nothing that could change his mind. There only hope now, was that her body would give out and die naturally.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
When her father left after less than an hour, Elvira pondered recent events sadly. She knew her parents weren't exactly the most openly affectionate people, but she had always thought they loved her in their own way.
Her six siblings were considerably younger than her and had been sickly as children, particularly the premature twins Raquel and Peter who were but nineteen years old now. She always assumed that their needy and dependent personalities, which seemed to require so much more attention and reassurance than her own independent personality, were why her parents took more time with them. She never dreamed even in her darkest moments that her parents simply did not like her.
She had always been independent. Even from an early age she was self-reliant. She didn't like to ask for help and rarely needed to. And she was always so busy with creating things that she often overlooked interpersonal relationships. She didn't realize that was a problem until now.
She realized now the woman was not in her early sixties as she had thought when a spirit in the void but was only 55 years old instead. And her father was the same age.
Her parents had her when they were very young. They married at sixteen years old, when her mother was already pregnant with her. It was a huge scandal to both families, but they covered it up by having them marry before her mother's pregnancy started to show.
Just children themselves when their first child was born, they allowed their parents to raise her while they grew up and went to college. That was part of why she was so close to her grandparents. They gave her the love and attention she needed. And she thrived.
Her father's parents – Gideon and Garnett Mae McLoughlin – let her live with them and ensured that she had every educational opportunity that she could possibly desire. This included culinary school as well as business administration.
Her mother's parents – Andros and Laureline Van Rothenburg – also doted on her and made sure she was able to develop in any creative outlet that she desired including painting and sculpture.
Her parents earned their degrees and were set up with important jobs within the McLoughlin's companies. Once her parents had established themselves with their own careers, they began to have more children.
By this time, Elvira was already out of the house and well on her way to creating a successful career of her own independent of her parents. She did not rely on their success or use their resources but forged her own path to success.
She realized now that both of her parents were spoiled and entitled. Although above average businesspeople, they were also rather lazy. They traded on the reputation of their parents to establish relationships in the business world and beyond.
They did produce results, however. They couldn't have remained in business otherwise. But they only did just slightly more than the bare minimum required.
Elvira was different. She enjoyed the challenge of creation, expanding her knowledge, honing her abilities, and developing her skills. She had that unique combination of talent, determination, drive, and intelligence that made her a force to be reckoned with in the world.