Evelyn: I lost nothing! I am still his lawful wife under state law! A handwritten codicil cannot override a signed prenuptial contract!
Arthur: You might want to think carefully before mentioning that prenuptial agreement, Evelyn.
Evelyn: What is that supposed to mean? The prenuptial agreement gives me fifty percent of all liquid assets upon his death!
Arthur: The prenuptial agreement you signed in 2015 contained an infidelity and abandonment clause, Section 14, Subsection B.
Sarah reached into her manila envelope, pulling out a thick sheaf of photographs and stamped bank statements.
Sarah: Raudin hired a private investigator six months ago, Evelyn. He knew about your apartment in Miami.
Evelyn: Miami? I own a vacation condo in Miami! That is not a crime!
Sarah: You own a condo under a shell corporation shared with Richard Vance, your divorce attorney.
Julian's eyes widened, his head snapping toward Evelyn with renewed disgust.
Julian: Richard Vance? The man representing our corporate competitors in the logistics merger?
Evelyn: Richard is an old family friend! He was advising me on estate tax structures!
Sarah: He was living with you for eighteen months while Raudin was receiving chemotherapy in Chicago!
Sarah laid the glossy photographs across the brass top of the lectern for the corporate directors to see.
Clear, high-resolution images showed Evelyn stepping off a luxury yacht in South Beach, holding hands with Richard Vance.
Director Hayes: Good Lord... While Raudin was dying alone in the hospice wing?
Director Miller: This is disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful behavior from the widow of our founder.
Evelyn: These are fabricated! Anyone can hire an actor to take digital photos on a boat!
Arthur: The private investigator also recovered wire transfers totaling four million dollars from Raudin's medical trust to Richard Vance's offshore accounts.
Julian: You stole four million dollars from my father's medical trust?!
Evelyn: That was legal retainer money! We were preparing to defend the estate against frivolous claims!
Arthur: Retainer money for what, Evelyn? For the petition you filed two weeks ago trying to declare Raudin brain-dead?
The entire chapel went deathly quiet. Even the soft funeral organ music seemed to freeze in the air.
Julian: You tried to declare my father brain-dead while he was still talking to me on the phone?
Evelyn: The doctors said he had no quality of life left! I was trying to spare him prolonged suffering!
Sarah: He was carving this toy car with his own hands two weeks ago, Evelyn! He was completely aware of what you were doing!
Toby: Daddy told me to tell Julian that the key is inside the car.
Julian looked down at his little brother, his heart pounding against his ribs.
Julian: What did you say, Toby?
Toby: The key. Daddy said to unscrew the back wheels if the bad lady started yelling.
Julian turned the small wooden car over in his palms, his thumbs pressing against the tiny brass axles of the rear wheels.
With a firm twist, the wooden axle clicked open, revealing a miniature hollow chamber carved into the center of the oak body.
A tiny silver safe deposit key slipped out of the chamber, falling directly into Julian's open hand.
Evelyn: Give that to me! That is private property from my house!
Julian: This key belongs to Box 412 at the First National Bank of Manhattan, doesn't it, Arthur?
Arthur: Yes, Julian. That is your father's personal safe box. The box where he stored his authentic voice recordings and original journals.
Evelyn backed away from the lectern, her face turning pale as she realized her entire web of lies was collapsing in front of the city's most powerful executives.