Julian marched up the grand staircase, his heavy footsteps echoing through the silent hall. Guests parted quickly, whispering in hushed tones as Evelyn and Richard backed away toward the private study doors.
Evelyn: Julian, stay where you are! This is my house!
Julian: My father built this house! You were just the gold-digger who married him three months before he died!
Richard: Show some respect to my mother, Julian!
Julian didn't hesitate. He swung his fist, striking Richard squarely across the jaw. Richard stumbled backward, crashing into a antique pedestal that shattered on the marble floor.
Evelyn: Richard! Julian, you brute! You've lost your mind!
Julian: Where are the real medical records, Evelyn?
Evelyn: What are you talking about? I don't have any medical records!
Julian: My father's autopsy report! The real toxicology report that you hid from the police six months ago!
Evelyn's face turned deathly pale. She took a step back, her hand clutching the doorframe of the private study.
Evelyn: You're insane. Your father died of natural heart failure. The doctors signed the certificate!
Julian: You paid off Dr. Evans! I found the bank transfers in your private offshore account last night!
Richard: Mother... what is he talking about? You said Arthur died of a stroke!
Evelyn: Shut your mouth, Richard! Don't say another word!
Julian: She poisoned him, Richard. She slowly poisoned my father with arsenic over four months so she could claim the eighty-million-dollar inheritance before he could update his will to include Maya!
Evelyn: That is a disgusting lie! You have no proof of anything!
Julian: I don't need proof from you. I have the master key to Father's wall safe.
Julian pulled a heavy brass key from his suit pocket and stepped past Evelyn into the private library. Evelyn gasped, lunging forward to grab his arm, but Julian shoved her hand away effortlessly.
Evelyn: Get out of that office! Security, arrest him!
Security Guard: Sir... we were hired by Mr. Arthur Sterling ten years ago. We know who built this family.
Evelyn: I pay your wages now, you fools! Fire him!
Security Guard: My men are standing down, Mrs. Sterling. We saw what you did to the girl on the stairs.
Julian walked straight to the oil painting hanging above the fireplace, swinging the heavy gold frame open to reveal a steel wall safe. He inserted the brass key and turned the digital dial. With a heavy metallic click, the safe door swung open.
Julian: Let's see what you've been hiding in here, stepmother.
Evelyn: No! Don't open that!
Inside lay a thick manila folder labeled with the state coroner's seal, alongside a velvet box containing a audio tape recorder. Julian pulled the folder out, opening it under the desk lamp.
Julian: Here it is. The original toxicology lab results showing fatal levels of arsenic in Father's blood. Signed by Dr. Evans himself.
Richard: Mother... did you poison my stepfather?
Evelyn: He was going to leave everything to Julian and that poor girl! He was going to write us out of the trust fund completely!
Julian: Because he realized what kind of monsters you both were!
Evelyn: I gave him five years of my life! I deserved that estate!
Julian: You deserve a life sentence in a federal prison. And today, you're finally going to get it.