Thirty minutes later, Mark was sitting inside the private office of his legal representative, David Vance.
Lily was resting on a soft leather couch in the corner, holding a cup of juice and watching cartoons.
David looked over the financial documents Mark had brought along in his leather briefcase.
"This is far worse than a simple dispute over household expenses, Mark," David said quietly.
"What did you find?" Mark asked, his voice low so Lily would not hear them talking.
David turned a sheet of paper around and pointed directly to a series of forged signatures.
"Evelyn took out a massive loan against the mansion three months ago without your knowledge," David explained.
"She also attempted to name herself as the primary beneficiary on Lily's personal trust fund," he added.
Mark ran a hand over his face, feeling the weight of the betrayal heavy on his shoulders.
He had trusted Evelyn with everything when they married four years ago after his first wife passed away.
He had believed she genuinely loved Lily and wanted to build a stable home together in the country.
Now he realized every move she made had been carefully calculated to secure the family wealth.
"She tried to let her fall, David," Mark whispered, his fingers trembling on the desk surface.
"That is a severe criminal allegation," David replied cautiously, leaning back in his chair.
"We need absolute proof if we are going to file for emergency sole custody and criminal charges," David noted.
"The foyer has a security camera hidden inside the crown molding," Mark suddenly remembered.
His heart raced as he opened the security application on his smartphone to access the cloud backup.
He tapped the video timeline for that morning and pressed play on the high-definition recording.
The screen clearly showed Evelyn standing behind Lily near the railing moments before the fall occurred.
It showed Evelyn intentionally nudging the child's small shoulder forward with her elbow.
Mark closed his eyes as a wave of nausea washed over him at the horrific truth on the screen.
"That is everything we need," David said firmly, his eyes fixed on the small phone screen.
"I am filing an emergency restraining order and a full custody petition immediately," David declared.