Vince Morana held the heavy silver fountain pen directly over the crisp parchment paper on the marble table.
The sunlight poured through the high windows of the Dallas home and brightened the entire room.
His ten-year-old granddaughter Lily stood near the doorway while watching every single movement of the pen.
She held her breath as the smooth metallic nib touched the line near the legal red seal.
A tall man in a dark business suit stood quietly beside the white polished dining table.
Attorney Bellum adjusted his expensive silk tie and smiled down at the older man with great patience.
He pointed his finger toward the bottom line of the final trust fund transfer document.
The entire estate worth millions rested on the simple signature that Vince was about to write.
Lily ran across the bright polished floor and shouted before the pen could move any further.
Lily: Don't sign it yet! Listen to what the dead lady said first!
Vince stopped his hand instantly while the ink formed a tiny round dot on the surface.
He turned his head slowly toward his small granddaughter with a look of utter confusion.
Attorney Bellum immediately shifted his weight and raised a defensive hand toward the young child.
Lawyer Bellum: Mr. Morana, it's just a child's toy that she is playing with.
The young girl paid no attention to the tall lawyer and held up her cracked smartphone screen.
The bright display showed an old contact card with an incoming call entry from months ago.
Vince leaned back into his wide chair and stared at the bold letters displayed on screen.
The name displayed across the screen brought a sudden cold chill to the quiet library room.
His late wife Eleanor had passed away four months prior after a very brief illness.
She had left behind several audio clips stored inside a cloud drive that nobody could open.
Lily tapped the cracked glass surface three times until the speaker began to emit static sound.
The ambient sound inside the large Dallas house disappeared entirely as the recording began to play.
Lawyer Bellum: We really do not have time for games today, Mr. Morana.
Vince Morana: Be quiet for one moment and let me look at this screen.
The phone screen flickered again while displaying a audio tag timestamped from late last winter.
Vince reached out his hand and took the small cracked phone directly from his granddaughter.
His eyes scanned the digital details while his thumb rested over the small round play button.
The suit wearing attorney stepped closer to the marble table with a slight sudden twitch.
The air in the grand dining room grew tight as everyone waited for the audio file.