Later that evening, after Lily was safely asleep in her bedroom, Sarah joined David downstairs.
David was sitting at the kitchen table with several legal folders spread out before him.
He had been looking over the family business trust fund and the company shareholder details.
For years, David had allowed his mother Evelyn to sit on the board of directors.
He had also trusted Uncle Richard to manage the corporate bank accounts for the firm.
Sarah: What are you looking at so late in the evening my dear husband?
David: I am looking at where all our hard-earned money has actually been going lately.
David pulled up a digital transaction record on his laptop screen and showed it to Sarah.
Over the last three years, large sums of money had been transferred out quietly.
Evelyn and Uncle Richard had been draining the family trust fund for their own luxury lifestyle.
They used company capital to buy expensive designer clothes, silver dresses, and European vacations.
They had treated Sarah with constant disrespect to keep her isolated from the family business decisions.
Sarah: They were taking advantage of your kindness while looking down on us the whole time.
David: Evelyn treated Lily like a servant today because she thinks she owns this family.
Sarah: What are you going to do about the business and the board of directors?
David: I am calling my corporate divorce lawyer and business attorney first thing tomorrow morning.
David realized that his mother's cruelty at dinner was not an isolated emotional incident.
It was part of a long pattern of entitlement and greed that had lasted far too long.
He resolved to strip Evelyn and Richard of all their administrative power in the company.
The next morning, David sat down in a bright high-rise office with his senior lawyer.
Lawyer: We can file an emergency injunction to remove your mother from the trust today.
David: Do it immediately, and prepare a full audit of every transaction Richard made.
Lawyer: They will likely fight this in court to protect their monthly allowance payments.
David: Let them fight all they want, because the truth is entirely on my side.