An hour later, the heavy wooden doors of the study opened wide.
Mr. Harrison, the senior estate attorney, entered the room holding a black briefcase.
He placed his glasses on his nose and looked at the broken pieces on the floor.
Mr. Harrison: I received your urgent call regarding the trust document.
Sarah: We found this hidden inside the ceramic display stand.
Sarah handed the yellow envelope directly into the attorney's hands.
Victoria stood near the window with her arms tightly crossed.
Victoria: That document cannot be genuine, Mr. Harrison.
Mr. Harrison: Let me examine the official stamps and signatures first.
The lawyer sat down at the large mahogany desk near the window.
He pulled a small magnifying glass out of his jacket pocket.
He spent ten long minutes checking every single line on the three pages.
Sarah held her daughter on her lap and waited quietly on the leather couch.
Victoria paced back and forth across the rug with noisy footsteps.
Victoria: Well? Tell her that it holds no legal power here!
Mr. Harrison set the papers down and lowered his glasses onto the desk.
He turned his head to look directly at Victoria with a serious expression.
Mr. Harrison: This is indeed the true final will signed by your late father.
Victoria froze in place as if all the energy had left her body.
Victoria: That is completely impossible!
Mr. Harrison: The signature is verified by my own firm's recorded ledger.
Sarah: Why was this hidden inside the vase stand, Mr. Harrison?
Mr. Harrison: Someone must have removed it from the safe before probate ended.
Sarah looked up from the sofa and stared directly at Victoria.
Victoria shifted her stance and adjusted the gold bracelet on her wrist.
Sarah: You altered the court papers after Grandfather passed away.
Victoria: I did what was necessary to protect our family's public standing!
Sarah: You deprived my daughter and me of our rightful inheritance for years!
Mr. Harrison shook his head slowly as he gathered the document sheets.
Mr. Harrison: This changes the entire structure of the estate settlement.