Arthur walked through the entrance holding a dark leather briefcase in his right hand.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sarah kneeling near the little boy.
His wife Victoria adjusted her long champagne dress without saying a single word of welcome.
Arthur: Is everything alright out here in the main hall today, Victoria?
Victoria: The new maid is just being clumsy with her cleaning duties again.
Arthur set his heavy briefcase down near the bottom of the curved grand staircase.
He knelt on the dark polished tiles and lifted the small boy into his arms.
The baby giggled softly and pressed his tiny hand against Arthur's blue coat suit.
Arthur smiled down at the infant with genuine warmth in his tired dark eyes.
Sarah watched the moment with a tight lump rising in her dry throat.
She could see that Arthur truly loved the child like his own born son.
Yet she also saw that Victoria kept a strange emotional distance from the boy.
Later that afternoon, Victoria left the mansion to go shopping at luxury stores downtown.
Sarah knew this was her only chance to search the private master office upstairs.
She slipped quietly past the security cameras in the rear hallway near the kitchen.
The wooden door to Arthur's private study was unlocked by a rare lucky accident.
Sarah stepped inside and smelled heavy tobacco smoke and old paper document files.
She moved quickly behind the large mahogany desk and opened the bottom desk drawer.
Inside was a thick red folder marked with confidential adoption seal stamps from court.
Sarah opened the folder with trembling fingers while listening for any soft footsteps outside.
Her eyes scanned the official court documents stamped from ten months ago downtown.
The paperwork listed a large cash payment to a small private clinic adoption agency.
There was a original hospital delivery log sheet attached to the back medical page.
It showed Sarah's name listed as the biological mother under the official state seal.
A tear slipped down Sarah's cheek and dripped onto the dry white paper sheet.
Sarah: I knew my instincts were right from the very first morning here.
She pulled out her cheap cell phone and took clear photographs of every page.
Suddenly the heavy wooden office door swung wide open behind her back with force.