Mark drove his black sedan down the quiet country road.
Tall green oak trees lined the long gravel driveway path.
The massive stone mansion rose up against the blue sky.
This was the place where Evelyn lived alone now.
Mark parked the car right in front of the steps.
He grabbed the folder containing the old handwritten letters tight.
He walked up the stone steps and opened the door.
The heavy door opened with a quiet creaking sound today.
Evelyn was sitting in a leather chair near the fireplace.
She held a warm cup of tea in her hands.
She looked totally calm despite his sudden loud arrival here.
Evelyn: You should not dig up old painful memories.
Mark: You lied to me about her tragic crash!
Mark slammed the folder down onto the wooden coffee table.
The papers spilled out across the polished dark wood surface.
Evelyn did not even flinch at the loud noise.
Evelyn: Clara was sick and wanted to leave you.
Mark: That is a complete lie and you know it!
Mark pulled out the letter found by little Lily earlier.
He pointed at the signature at the bottom page clear.
Mark: She wrote that you threatened her life back then!
Evelyn set her teacup down on the small glass tray.
Her eyes turned cold as she stared at her stepson.
Evelyn: She was going to ruin this family business!
Mark: She was my wife and I loved her!
Evelyn: She found out about the offshore trust fund!
Mark felt his body go totally rigid with shock now.
The family trust fund held over twenty million dollars total.
Clara had been an accountant before they got married then.
She must have noticed the missing money in the records.
Mark: Where is she buried if the crash never happened?
Evelyn stood up from her leather chair very slowly now.
She smoothed down the front of her expensive grey dress.
Evelyn: She accepted a large cash settlement to disappear.
Mark: You paid her to leave me forever?
Evelyn: I protected this family from a massive scandal!
Mark shook his head in absolute disgust at her words.
He did not believe his stepmother was telling the truth.
Clara loved him too much to just walk away.
He remembered how they planned to start a family together.
His smartphone began to ring loudly in his pocket then.
He pulled it out and saw his lawyer's name.
Mark: Did you find the official police records yet?
Lawyer: Mark, the certificate was signed by a fake doctor!
Mark turned his eyes back toward his calm stepmother.