Isabella: Get away from me! Don't you touch me with your dirty hands!
Lily: I'm not touching you, Isabella. I'm just telling you the truth that was stolen from both of us twenty-four years ago.
Isabella: You're insane! You're just a temp maid working for the catering company! Mom, call security right now and have this girl thrown out on the street!
Evelyn: Yes, security! Where are the guards?! Escort this imposter off our property immediately!
Two tall security guards in black suits stepped out from the side hallway near the US flag, but before they could reach the center of the dance floor, fifty-five-year-old Richard Vance stepped forward from the crowd[cite: 1]. Richard, the billionaire head of Vance Enterprises, held up his hand to stop the guards.
Richard: Hold on a second, guards. Stay right where you are.
Evelyn: Richard, darling! Why are you stopping them?! This girl is trying to ruin our daughter's birthday party with some crazy lie!
Richard: She's holding a pocket watch that belonged to my late mother, Evelyn. I would know that silver watch anywhere in the world.
Isabella: Dad, you can't be serious! She probably stole it from our master bedroom while cleaning the upstairs guest rooms!
Lily: I didn't steal anything, Mr. Vance. My adoptive mother gave me this watch on her deathbed three months ago in the hospital.
Evelyn: Adoptive mother?! She's making up stories to extort money from our family estate! She knows how much this estate is worth!
Richard: Be quiet for a moment, Evelyn. Let the girl speak.
Lily wiped a tear from her cheek, her face still red and painful from the force of Isabella's slap[cite: 1]. The guests in tuxedos and gold gowns leaned closer, whispering frantically behind their champagne glasses[cite: 1].
Lily: My name is Lily. Twenty-four years ago, on July 14th, two twin girls were born at St. Jude Memorial Hospital to Richard Vance and his first wife, Mary.
Richard: Mary... you know my late wife's name?
Lily: Mary died during childbirth, Mr. Vance. And within twenty-four hours, your new wife, Evelyn, paid an administrator at the hospital fifty thousand dollars to hide my birth records and hand me over to a nurse named Sarah.
Evelyn: That is a complete and utter lie! I would never do such a thing! Richard, she's slandering my name in front of all our business partners!
Isabella: Exactly! Dad, look at how ridiculous this sounds! Why would Mom hide a baby?!
Lily: Because Evelyn wanted only one child to inherit the Vance family fortune! She didn't want a daughter from your late wife's bloodline sharing the trust fund!
Richard: Evelyn... look me in the eye right now. Is there any truth to what she's saying?
Evelyn: Of course not! Richard, you know me! I've been your loving wife for twenty-three years! I raised Isabella as if she were my own!
Lily: She raised Isabella because Isabella was her biological daughter from her previous relationship! But I was Mary's real daughter!
The entire ballroom let out a collective gasp as the revelation settled over the room[cite: 1]. Isabella staggered back two steps, her blue satin dress rustling against the marble floor as she looked at her mother in terror[cite: 1].
Isabella: Mom... what is she talking about?! I'm Dad's daughter, right?! Tell her she's wrong!
Evelyn: Don't listen to her, Isabella! She's trying to tear our family apart on your special night!
Lily: If I'm lying, Evelyn, then let Mr. Vance read the birth certificate in my hand right now.