To understand how Hannah ended up bleeding on the courtyard stone, one had to look back six months to the death of her father, Richard Vance. Richard had spent forty years building a massive real estate empire across Texas, accumulating mansions, commercial buildings, and a multimillion-dollar trust fund meant entirely for his only daughter, Hannah. However, his second marriage to Victoria had brought Arthur into the family fold, a greedy man obsessed with high living and fast cash.
When Richard passed away unexpectedly from heart failure, Victoria immediately produced a revised will that handed complete control of the Vance estate over to Arthur. Hannah was left with absolutely nothing, evicted from her childhood home within forty-eight hours of her father's funeral. She knew her father would never have signed such a cruel document without being forced or deceived by his new wife.
Hannah: Dad promised me the estate before he passed away in the hospital.
Arthur: Promises mean nothing without legal ink, little sister.
Victoria: The divorce lawyer confirmed that the signature on the final document is totally valid.
Hannah: You faked his signature while he was heavily medicated!
Hannah had spent the last three months working tirelessly with a private investigator to track down the truth behind the sudden changes to her father's estate. They discovered that Victoria had hired a dirty attorney to forge Richard's name on a fraudulent amendment just days before his death. Hannah had driven to the mansion today under the pretense of collecting her remaining personal belongings, but her real goal was to confront Arthur with the truth face to face.
She had brought a tablet with digital copies of the forged documents, hoping to force Arthur into a reasonable legal settlement without a public courtroom scandal. But she had severely underestimated how far Arthur and Victoria would go to protect their stolen wealth and lifestyle. They were willing to commit violent crimes to ensure that nobody ever questioned their control over the family fortune.
Victoria: You always were too foolish for your own good, Hannah.
Arthur: Now the Vance legacy belongs entirely to us.
Hannah gritted her teeth against the stone floor, listening to their harsh voices echoing from the high balcony above her battered body.