Mark carried Lily carefully down the grand staircase into the quiet ground floor living room.
He set her down gently on the soft leather sofa near the warm stone fireplace.
He handed her the bright stuffed rabbit that he had picked up from the floor.
Mark: Stay right here, Lily, and watch your favorite cartoon on the television screen.
Lily: Are you going to send the mean lady away forever, daddy?
Mark: Yes, my brave little girl, everything is going to be taken care of now.
Mark walked back out into the grand foyer where Evelyn was standing near the entrance.
She was holding her high-end designer leather purse and looking very angry and defensive.
She had lost her soft polite act and her sharp eyes were narrow and cold.
Evelyn: You cannot talk to me like that inside my own family home!
Mark: This is not your home, Evelyn, and it never truly was yours.
Evelyn: My family put up the trust fund money to secure this massive property!
Mark reached into his inner suit pocket and pulled out a clean white folded paper.
It was a copy of the official land deed and mortgage papers from the bank.
He had picked it up from his trusted estate lawyer's office earlier that same morning.
Evelyn stared at the official blue legal stamp printed clearly on the front cover page.
Her face lost all its normal pink color as she realized what he held in hand.
Mark: My late wife bought this land under a private trust before we met.
Evelyn: That is impossible, my lawyers told me the estate was completely open!
Mark: Your lawyers lied to you because you wanted my late wife's full inheritance.
Mark took one step closer to Evelyn while holding the clear legal papers out flat.
He remembered how Evelyn had insisted on signing a quick marriage agreement six months ago.
She had believed that marrying him would give her instant control of the entire property.
She wanted the vast family land trust to cover her own secret personal gambling debts.
Mark: You did not marry me because you loved me or my little girl.
Evelyn: That is a complete lie and you have no right to accuse me!
Mark: You married me because you thought this estate was worth thirty million dollars!