Julian: Let me see that car, kid.
Boy: No! It's mine! My dad carved it for my birthday!
Evelyn: Julian, don't waste your breath on a stray orphan! Guards, drag him out the side exit!
Julian: Evelyn, shut your mouth for one second!
Julian reached down, his hands trembling as he gently pulled the toy car closer to inspect the engraving under the light.
The letters were distinct, carved with a custom laser-etching tool that only one man in the city owned.
Julian: Where did you get this carving?
Boy: In the hospital room! My dad gave it to me before he fell asleep!
Evelyn: He's lying, Julian! He probably stole it from your father's private workshop!
Julian: My father's workshop has been locked with a biometric keypad for three years, Evelyn.
Evelyn: Then the maid took it! You know how dishonest the housekeeping staff has been since Raudin got sick!
Boy: I didn't steal it! My mom said my dad was sleeping here, and I had to say goodbye!
Julian looked down at the boy's face, really looking at him for the very first time.
The boy had the exact same cleft chin, the same deep-set hazel eyes, and the same dark wavy hair as Raudin Sterling.
Julian: What is your name, son?
Boy: Toby. My name is Toby Sterling.
A loud gasp rippled through the front row of the chapel, several corporate directors leaning forward in their pews.
Evelyn: That is an absolute outrage! How dare you speak my family's name with your filthy tongue!
Evelyn raised her hand and shoved the boy hard against the brass stanchion, sending him stumbling onto the carpet.
Toby: Ow! Daddy!
Julian snapped. The fury that had been building inside him for months broke through like a dam.
He spun around with blinding speed, swinging his open right palm directly across Evelyn's veiled face.
The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the vaulted ceiling like a pistol shot, tearing her black lace veil completely off.
Evelyn stumbled backward, crashing into the front wooden pew and clutching her swelling cheek in sheer horror.
Evelyn: You slapped me?!
Julian: How dare you treat my brother like that! Get out of my father's funeral!
Evelyn: Your brother?! You have lost your mind, Julian! You are the only legal heir to this estate!
Julian: Look at the wood in this toy, Evelyn! This is black walnut from our upstate cabin!
Evelyn: Anyone can buy black walnut at a lumber yard!
Julian: My father hand-turned the wheels on his vintage lathe! I spent ten years watching him make these exact toys!
Julian turned back toward the floor, tears finally breaking through his stony composure as he knelt on the carpet.
Julian: You belong here, little brother...
Toby sniffled, his small hands reaching out to grab Julian's black suit lapels.
Julian: Welcome home.
Julian pulled the little boy into a tight, protective embrace right in front of the open casket, ignoring the whispers of two hundred mourners.
Evelyn: You will regret this, Julian! My lawyers will have this child barred from the probate court by five o'clock!
Julian kept his arms locked around Toby, his eyes burning as he looked toward the chapel doors.
Standing in the shadows of the rear foyer was a young woman in a worn grey coat, clutching a manila envelope against her chest.