Marcus: My mother is coming here at two o'clock today with her corporate lawyers, Clara.
Clara: Let her come.
Marcus: You don't understand Eleanor! She has six estate attorneys and three board proxies backing her! She'll claim you're unfit because you don't have corporate standing!
Clara: I have a certified master's degree in pediatric nursing and a legal court order signed by a state judge, Marcus. Your mother's proxies mean nothing in a probate court.
Marcus: She'll try to ruin you in the press. She'll say you snuck into the mansion to manipulate the inheritance!
Clara: Let her try. The security cameras in this nursery recorded everything that happened when you walked through that door twenty minutes ago.
Marcus froze, his eyes darting toward the small black camera lens mounted near the American flag on the upper wall.
Marcus: The... the nursery camera is recording?
Clara: The audio and video feed stream directly to Sarah's lawyer's private cloud server. Including the moment you slapped me while I was holding Leo.
Marcus closed his eyes, a dry, bitter gasp escaping his throat as he realized how completely he had compromised himself.
Marcus: Clara... please. If that video goes to the board, they'll remove me as CEO immediately on a morality clause violation.
Clara: I didn't set up the camera to ruin you, Marcus. Sarah installed that backup system three months before she gave birth because she knew your mother was threatening her.
Marcus: My mother was threatening Sarah?
Clara: Eleanor told Sarah that if she didn't sign the trust shares over to the family foundation, she would have her barred from the estate after the baby was born.
Marcus took a step back, his hands shaking at his sides as the realization hit him.
Marcus: My mother told me... she told me Sarah refused to see me in the hospital because she wanted a divorce!
Clara: Sarah begged to see you every day, Marcus! But your mother instructed the hospital staff to keep you in the corporate offices in Manhattan so you wouldn't hear the truth before the prenuptial deadline!
Leo finished the last drop of milk in the bottle, letting out a soft sigh as he closed his eyes, his small face resting against Clara's chest, fast asleep.
Clara: Your mother lied to you about Sarah, Marcus. Just like she's lying to you about this baby.