The room behind the metal door was dimly lit by a single desk lamp.
Julian adjusted his coat and scanned the stone walls of the hidden room.
A tired woman sat on a small wooden chair near the far corner.
Her soft hair was loose and her face looked pale in the dim light.
Sarah: Julian, you finally came home for us.
Julian rushed across the room and dropped to his knees before her.
Julian: Sarah, what happened to you in this place?
Sarah took his hands and squeezed them with her trembling fingers.
Sarah: Claire came with legal papers yesterday morning after you left.
Julian: What kind of legal papers did she bring here?
Sarah looked at the wooden table in the center of the room.
Several thick folders and legal documents lay scattered across the surface.
Sarah: She wanted me to sign over the family trust fund control.
Lily ran into the room and threw her arms around Sarah's waist.
Lily: Mommy, I told Daddy you were locked inside here.
Sarah held her young daughter tightly and kissed the top of her head.
Sarah: You were so brave to bring your father down here, Lily.
Julian picked up one of the legal folders from the wooden table.
He opened the top document and read the sharp black letters on the page.
The document was an application for emergency power of attorney over the estate.
Julian: She tried to claim you were mentally unfit to make decisions.
Sarah: She told the staff that I needed isolated rest in the lower wing.
Julian felt a surge of cold fury as he read through the pages.
Julian: Thomas helped her carry out this insane plan in my home.
Thomas stood near the open doorway with his head lowered in shame.
Thomas: She presented a document with your official corporate stamp, Mr. Sterling.
Julian turned his head toward the guard with eyes full of ice.
Julian: My personal stamp stays inside my locked office desk upstairs.
Sarah: She broke into your study the night after your plane took off.
Julian closed the heavy folder with a loud slapping sound.
Julian: She planned this entire takeover months before I left for Europe.
Lily looked up at her father with worried eyes.
Lily: Is Aunt Claire going to send us away from our house?
Julian wrapped his arm around his daughter and pulled her close.
Julian: Nobody is sending anyone away from this family home, sweetheart.
Sarah pointed to a black leather briefcase sitting under the small table.
Sarah: Look inside that briefcase before you head upstairs, Julian.
Julian reached down and pulled the heavy briefcase onto the table surface.
The brass latch popped open easily under his strong fingers.
Inside lay stacks of financial records and property title deeds.
Every single property deed had been marked for immediate emergency sale.