Richard: What did you just say, Elena?
Elena: Your mother lied to you seven years ago, Richard. Celeste didn't die of a sudden illness before Leo was born.
Victoria: Shut your mouth! Shut your lying mouth right now!
Richard: Let her finish speaking, Mother!
Elena: When Celeste fell sick during her pregnancy, your mother forced her into a private clinic in Chicago under a fake name.
Victoria: I sent her there for specialized medical care!
Elena: You sent her there so nobody in high society would know she was carrying Richard's child before the wedding paperwork was finalized!
Leo: Mommy Elena was with me when I was a tiny baby! She told me about the warm blankets!
Richard: Leo... what do you mean she was with you?
Leo: She brought me the blue bear, Dad! The blue bear in my closet that Grandma tried to throw away last year!
Richard froze, his jaw dropping open as he looked down at his son. A cold shudder ran down his spine as the pieces of a seven-year-old puzzle finally began to lock into place.
Richard: The blue handmade bear... Celeste told me her sister knitted that bear during her final weeks in the hospital.
Elena: I knitted that bear while sitting beside my sister’s bed, Richard. And when she passed away, I promised her I would protect her baby with my life.
Victoria: You didn't protect him! You abandoned him and vanished for seven years!
Elena: I didn't vanish! You had your corporate lawyers issue a restraining order against me using forged signature papers!
Victoria: I protected my son’s estate from a greedy orphan who wanted a multi-million-dollar payout!
Elena: You protected your own access to the Sterling Family Trust, Victoria!
I stood up from the cold marble floor, pulling Leo close against my hip. I looked Victoria straight in her bloodshot eyes, my voice rising with a strength I hadn't felt in years.
Elena: According to the original Sterling estate will written by my grandfather, if Celeste had a surviving twin sister, fifty percent of the corporate voting stock transfers directly to her upon turning thirty.
Richard: Fifty percent of the voting stock... Mother, is that clause real?
Victoria: It is an outdated, invalid clause drafted by a senile old man thirty years ago!
Elena: It is a valid legal clause registered with the state probate court, Victoria. And I turned thirty years old last month.
Victoria backed away toward the grand wooden staircase, her manicured fingers clutching her brown dress as she looked at Richard in absolute panic.
Victoria: Richard, listen to me! She is trying to destroy our company! She wants to take control of Sterling Global and kick us out onto the street!
Richard: Did my father write that clause into his will, Mother?
Victoria: It doesn't matter what he wrote! I raised you! I kept this family at the top of Chicago society for twenty years!
Richard: Did you forge the custody papers after Celeste died?!
Victoria: I did what had to be done to protect our name!
Richard: Answer my question! Did you forge my signature on those adoption releases seven years ago?!
Victoria swallowed hard, her face turning as white as the marble floor beneath her feet. She couldn't look her son in the eye.