Clara slipped quietly into the private study while Richard was away at a corporate board meeting.
She searched through the dark mahogany desk until she found the heavy brass lockbox.
Inside that lockbox sat the original will and the official family trust fund contract.
These legal documents proved that the family fortune belonged to the family charity trust fund.
Clara smiled wickedly as she tucked the heavy brass box under her arm and left the office.
She walked out onto the second floor balcony that overlooked the grand foyer below.
The sun shone brightly through the massive glass windows, lighting up the white marble floors.
Elena came around the corner holding a stack of freshly folded white silk towels.
She froze in place when she saw Clara standing right near the edge of the high railing.
Elena: Mrs. Sterling, what are you doing with that heavy box from the master study?
Clara: Mind your own business and get back to your cleaning duties right now!
Elena: That box contains the family estate documents that your husband keeps safe!
Clara: I am the mistress of this house, and I do whatever I want here!
Clara lifted the heavy box up over the decorative metal railing of the balcony balcony.
She intended to drop it down onto the hard floor so the lock would break open completely.
Then she could burn the loose pages in the courtyard fireplace before Richard returned home.
She planned to tell Richard that Elena had dropped the box by total accident while dusting.
That wicked lie would destroy Elena's reputation and force Richard to fire her on the spot.
Elena realized what Clara was trying to do and felt her heart beat wildly in her chest.
She knew those paper documents represented the life work of Richard's beloved late mother.
Elena: Please stop, Mrs. Sterling, you are going to destroy his family history!
Clara: If I cannot control this inheritance, then nobody will ever see it again!
Clara shoved the heavy brass box over the top of the balcony edge with all her strength.
The metal box tipped forward into the empty air above the bright open foyer below.
Elena gasped in terror and dropped her cleaning towels onto the carpeted hallway floor.
She did not hesitate for a single second as she sprinted straight down the spiral stairs.
Her athletic shoes gripped the polished marble steps as she moved faster than ever before.
The heavy box tumbled through the air toward the cold marble floor twenty feet below.
If it hit the ground, the delicate antique lock and old parchment papers would shatter completely.
Elena dove forward across the smooth marble floor with both of her arms stretched out wide.