Twenty minutes later, a sleek gray sedan pulled up the long estate driveway.
Richard Vance, a sharp family lawyer in his fifties, walked into the grand home.
He carried a heavy black leather briefcase packed with legal paperwork and files.
Nathan met him in the main study, where Brenda sat stewing in silence.
Richard: Good afternoon, Nathan. I brought all the financial trust documents you requested.
Nathan: Thank you, Richard. Please explain the terms of our prenuptial agreement to Brenda.
Brenda: I signed that paper under distress six months before the wedding!
Richard: Mrs. Sterling, the agreement was reviewed by your independent legal counsel.
Brenda: It is unfair! I gave up my career to move into this mansion!
Richard: The contract states clearly that any attempt to liquidate family trust assets voids alimony.
Nathan: She hired a moving truck to clear out my late wife's estate items today.
Richard: That constitutes a direct violation of Clause Twelve regarding household property management.
Brenda slammed her hand onto the desk, standing up with a sharp glare.
Brenda: He brought me here to be his wife, not a decorative ghost!
Nathan: You were meant to be a partner, but you showed your true colors.
Brenda: I deserved half of this estate after everything I did for you!
Nathan: You have been here six months and tried to erase my daughter's mother.
Richard: Furthermore, attempting to remove items belonging to a minor's trust is criminal fraud.
Brenda sank back into the leather armchair, her face completely flushed with anger.
Nathan pulled out a formal eviction notice that Richard had drafted earlier that month.
He had kept it in his desk drawer after noticing small inconsistencies in household accounts.
Nathan: I was hoping I would never have to sign this document, Brenda.
Brenda: You wouldn't throw your own legal wife out on the streets!
Nathan: You threatened to throw my daughter and Maria out into the rain today.
Brenda: I was frustrated! She was constantly bringing up Sarah's memory to mock me!
Lily: That is not true! I just wanted my picture books back!
Lily's small voice called out from the open doorway behind her father.
She had walked back downstairs holding her mother's favorite hand-painted silk scarf.
Lily: You tried to burn this scarf in the backyard fire pit, Brenda.
Nathan looked at the silk scarf in his daughter's trembling little hands.
That was the final straw that shattered any remaining mercy in his heart.