Marcus tore open the singed edge of the thick brown paper envelope quickly.
He pulled out several crisp legal pages stamped with official state seals.
Marcus: This is not just a disinheritance paper for baby Lily.
Clara: What else did she put inside that secret file, Marcus?
Eleanor: Don't... don't read that out loud! Put it away!
Marcus scanned the top paragraph of the document as his eyes widened.
Marcus: This is my father's original, unedited last will and testament.
Clara gasped and pulled herself up using the sturdy balcony railing.
Clara: Your father's real will? I thought that was settled years ago.
Marcus: She hid the real will ten years ago when Dad passed away.
Eleanor: He was sick when he signed that biased document, Marcus!
Marcus: According to this paper, the entire estate passed directly to me at twenty-five!
The heavy revelation hung thick in the air of the large mansion foyer.
Eleanor had been illegally controlling the vast fortune for an entire decade.
Marcus: You stole ten years of my life and my independence, Mom!
Eleanor: I managed the money far better than you ever could have!
Marcus: You used my father's hard work to control every choice I made!
Clara: That is why she tried so hard to stop our marriage, Marcus.
Clara: She knew a lawyer wife would eventually examine the trust funds closely.
Eleanor looked frantic as the security guards held her arm securely.
Eleanor: You have no proof that document was hidden by my hand!
Marcus: Your personal notary stamp is stamped on the second page, Eleanor.
He pointed his finger directly at the red wax seal on the bottom corner.
Marcus: You committed fraud, grand larceny, and corporate embezzlement against your son.
Eleanor: I am your mother! You would never report me to the authorities!
Marcus looked at his wife and then thought of his newborn baby daughter.
Marcus: You threatened my daughter's future, so all loyalty ends tonight.