Liam: Sarah, look at me. Are you okay?
Sarah: I'm... I'm fine, Mr. Liam. I just made a big mistake.
Evelyn: See? She admits it herself! She smashed your grandmother's crystal serving dish into a hundred pieces!
Liam: Where are the broken pieces, Mother? I don't see any glass on this floor.
Evelyn shifted her weight in her green gown, her hands tightening against her waist as her eyes darted toward the pantry door.
Evelyn: I already had the butler sweep it into the trash bin outside!
Liam: Really? Because I just walked past the outside trash bins, and they're completely empty.
Sarah: Mrs. Sterling... please don't make him mad...
Liam: Sarah, tell me the truth. Why were you crying before I walked through that door?
Sarah: I... I can't say, Mr. Liam. She'll fire me on the spot if I tell you.
Liam: She won't fire you because she doesn't own this estate. My father left controlling interest of this house to me in his will.
Evelyn let out a sharp, bitter laugh, stepping between her son and the young maid.
Evelyn: Don't talk to your mother like that, Liam! I raised you in this house!
Liam: And you've been running it like a prison ever since Dad passed away! Sarah, speak to me.
Sarah took a trembling breath, wiping her red cheeks with the back of her hand.
Sarah: She didn't yell at me about a plate, Mr. Liam. There was no broken dish.
Liam: What happened then?
Sarah: I found an envelope in your father's old desk while I was dusting the library this morning.
Evelyn: Sarah! Keep your mouth shut right now!
Liam: Let her finish, Mother! What was in the envelope, Sarah?
Sarah: It was a trust fund document... with my father's name written on the front page.
Liam froze, his angry glare slowly turning away from Sarah and locking onto his mother's pale face.
Liam: Your father? Your father was Thomas Reed... my dad's chief accountant who died five years ago.
Sarah: Yes. And the document said my father owned twenty percent of Sterling Enterprises.
Evelyn: She's lying, Liam! She's making up stories to steal our family money!
Liam: Is that why you were forcing her to resign, Mother? Is that why she was crying?
Sarah: She threatened to call the police and accuse me of theft if I didn't hand the envelope over to her right now.
Liam took a deep breath, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists by his sides.
Liam: Where is the envelope right now, Mother?
Evelyn: It's none of your business, Liam! It belongs to the estate legal team!
Liam: I am the estate owner! Give me the envelope!
Evelyn pulled her green gown tight around her shoulders, turning her head away toward the bright kitchen window.
Evelyn: I burnt it in the fireplace ten minutes ago.
Sarah gasped, holding her hand over her mouth as fresh tears filled her eyes.
Sarah: Oh no... my family's proof...
Liam: You burnt a legal document inside my house, Mother?
Evelyn: It was an outdated draft! It had no legal standing in any Dallas court!
Liam: If it had no legal standing, why were you so terrified of Sarah holding it?
Evelyn didn't answer. She stood in silence under the crystal chandelier, her face tight with rage as the high-key white kitchen grew completely quiet.
Liam: Sarah, come with me. We are going to my father's private study right now.
Sarah: Mr. Liam... I don't want to get you into trouble with your family...
Liam: You're not getting me into trouble, Sarah. You're helping me fix a crime that should have been solved years ago.