Grandfather: Sit down in those chairs and do not move a muscle.
Stepmother: Arthur you are making a massive scene over absolutely nothing.
Grandmother: Think about your blood pressure before you get too upset.
Grandfather: Silence both of you until I review these computer video files.
Arthur sat down behind his heavy oak desk and unlocked his computer monitor.
He opened the security program that saved every recording to a cloud folder.
He pulled up the video files from the past seven days of absence.
Lily sat quietly on a small leather sofa beside his mahogany desk.
She held a cup of warm milk with her tiny dirty fingers tightly.
The screen flashed to life with crisp high definition color video footage.
Arthur watched the morning video from three full days ago on screen.
He saw Victoria taking away Lily's favourite stuffed animal and small toys.
He saw Eleanor hiding the child's sweet mother's old photo frames away.
Little Girl: They took my mommy's ring out of the closet desk.
Grandfather: Did they take your mother's jewelry box from her bedroom?
Little Girl: Yes they put it inside a blue plastic garbage bag.
Stepmother: She wanted us to clean the room for guests next week!
Arthur turned his head slowly to glare directly at Victoria's nervous face.
His late daughter had left that golden ring for little Lily's future trust fund.
It was a precious family piece meant for when she turned twenty-one years old.
He clicked another video file from yesterday afternoon on the computer screen.
The video showed Victoria forcing the small girl to carry heavy leather boots.
When the child dropped one boot Victoria yelled right in her face.
Eleanor stood nearby laughing while holding a glass of orange juice soda.
Arthur slammed his open palm down against the hard surface of his desk.
The loud bang made both women jump backward toward the office wall.
Grandfather: You treated my late daughter's child like a house worker!
Stepmother: We were just teaching her responsibility for her own good!
Grandmother: Children need strict discipline so they do not grow up spoiled!
Grandfather: She is four years old and you stripped her dignity away!
Arthur stood up from his big leather chair with immense dark rage.
He felt a deep pain inside his chest for his little granddaughter.
He had trusted his family to protect Lily while he built his business.
Instead they had turned his home into a nightmare for the child.
He picked up a thick stack of paper documents from his desk table.
He tossed the papers hard across the desk directly at Victoria's feet.
The white pages fluttered through the air and scattered on the floor.
Grandfather: Look at those documents very carefully right now both of you.
Stepmother: What are these legal papers supposed to mean for us?
Grandmother: Is this about the new family trust fund updates Arthur?
Grandfather: That is the document that removes both of your names forever.
Victoria gasped loudly and dropped her small designer handbag onto the rug.
Eleanor gripped the back of a wooden dining chair to balance herself.
The true battle for the family wealth had finally begun right here.