Arthur walked quickly into the private study while Clara followed close behind him on the soft carpet.
The room smelled of old books and expensive leather, with large stained glass windows catching the afternoon sun.
Arthur walked around the large wooden desk where his wife Victoria spent hours working on her charity documents.
Arthur: Which drawer did you look inside while cleaning this room Clara?
Clara: The bottom left drawer behind the iron document box sir.
Arthur pulled open the heavy wooden drawer and moved several stackable tax files out of his way.
Hidden at the very back sat a thick yellow envelope with no official return address printed on top.
Arthur opened the top flap and pulled out dozens of bank receipts printed on thin white paper sheets.
Every receipt showed a payment of ten thousand dollars made to a private care center named Willow Pines.
The recurring charges started twenty years ago and continued straight through to the current month without stopping once.
Arthur: Ten thousand dollars every single month without fail.
Clara: Look at the memo line on those receipts sir.
Arthur held the white paper close to his eyes and read the small handwritten blue ink line written below.
The note said long-term patient care for resident room four under the name of Lily Vance.
Arthur dropped the papers onto the wooden desk surface as his knees felt suddenly weak and unstable.
Lily was the name of his sweet daughter who had disappeared on that rainy afternoon so long ago.
Arthur: Why would Victoria hide my own child from me like this?
Clara: Your family trust fund required a direct blood heir to claim the estate.
Arthur looked up at Clara with total shock showing across his wrinkled forehead and pale face.
He remembered his late father's strict legal will that was signed before the old man passed away years ago.
The trust fund stated that if Arthur had no living child, the entire fortune went to his wife.
Victoria had married Arthur just two years before Lily went missing during that terrible summer vacation trip.
Arthur: She kept my sweet girl hidden just to steal my entire fortune!
Clara: She paid the clinic staff double money to keep Lily completely quiet.
Arthur slammed his hand down onto the dark wood desk while his chest moved up and down fast.
He had spent two decades grieving for a child who was kept locked away in a private facility.
He had given Victoria millions of dollars for her personal shopping trips, international vacations, and luxury cars.
Arthur: How did you end up finding out about Lily Clara?
Clara: My older sister worked as a night nurse at Willow Pines.
Clara explained how her sister noticed the girl carried a silver locket with the exact same numbers inside.
Her sister took a photograph of the small locket and sent it straight to Clara three weeks ago.
Clara had taken the maid job at the mansion specifically to search for proof inside Victoria's private study.
Arthur: You risked your own job to bring me this legal proof?
Clara: My sister said Lily cries for her father every night sir.
Arthur felt tears fill his tired eyes as he gathered all the bank receipts into his leather jacket.
He locked the desk drawer back up so Victoria would not suspect that anyone had opened her files.
The sound of a luxury sports car engine echoed outside in the front driveway of the large house.
Arthur: Victoria is home early from her garden club meeting Clara.
Clara: Walk out the side door into the garage right now sir.
Arthur nodded his head and led Clara down the side hallway toward the private garage near the back.
They slipped through the door just as Victoria's heavy high heels clicked against the front marble floor.
Arthur started his black sedan engine while his mind raced with a plan to save his lost child.