Later that afternoon, Martha carefully taped the torn music pages back together again.
Lily sat at the sunlit kitchen table drinking a warm glass of fresh milk.
Martha: You were very brave today, but you must be careful around her.
Lily: Why does she hate me so much, Martha?
Martha: She does not hate you, child; she wants full control over the estate.
Martha leaned in close and checked the hallway to make sure nobody listened.
She whispered softly about the secret legal documents hidden inside the home office.
Victoria had been meeting secretly with a high-priced divorce lawyer for weeks now.
She was planning to alter the terms of the family trust fund inheritance.
If Victoria succeeded, Lily would lose her rightful share of her father's estate.
Lily: My father would never sign something that leaves me with nothing.
Martha: He does not know what she is putting in those papers.
Lily decided right then that she needed to find those hidden legal documents.
She waited until evening when Victoria left the house for an event.
The estate grew dark and quiet as night fell over the wide countryside.
Lily crept silently down the carpeted hallway toward her father's private study room.
The heavy oak door was locked, but Martha had provided the spare brass key.
Lily unlocked the door softly and slipped inside the grand room full of books.
A large desk sat near the window, lit only by pale blue moonlight.
Lily opened the bottom drawer where her father kept his important financial records.
She searched through the thick folders until she found a strange blue envelope.
Inside was a drafted lawsuit intended to claim full ownership of the house.
Victoria had forged several signatures to make it look like Lily's father agreed.
Lily: She is trying to steal our home while my dad is away!
Suddenly, the bright headlights of a car flashed outside the large study window.
Victoria had returned earlier than expected from her evening charity gala party.
Lily quickly tucked the legal documents inside her sweater and locked the desk.
She ran back to her bedroom just as the front door swung open.
Her heart beat fast, but she now possessed the proof she needed.