The afternoon brought grey clouds over the sprawling Dallas suburbs.
Elena sat in the small study, helping Lily finish a colorful drawing.
The child was drawing a picture of her father standing near their garden.
Elena smiled softly, but her mind remained heavy with intense worry.
She had overheard a private phone call in the hallway earlier that day.
Victoria was talking to a lawyer about altering the late mother legal trust.
The original trust fund guaranteed Lily full ownership of the family mansion.
If Mark remarried without a prenup, Victoria could challenge the child inheritance.
Elena knew she had to protect the rightful heir to the house.
She placed the drawing on the wooden table and smoothed Lily hair.
Lily: Is Victoria going to be my new mom forever?
Elena: You will always have your mother memory inside your heart.
Lily: She made my daddy cry last night in the office.
Elena felt a knot form deep inside her stomach at those words.
She knew Mark was under immense pressure from his upcoming corporate deal.
Victoria had used that stress to push for an immediate private wedding.
Suddenly, the study door swung open with a sharp and loud bang.
Victoria stood in the doorway, holding a thick legal folder in hand.
Victoria: Why are you snooping around in these private files?
Elena: I was only dusting the bookshelves while watching Lily draw.
Victoria: Leave the room right now and go clean the upper hallway.
Elena stood up slowly, keeping Lily behind her uniform skirt.
She saw that Victoria hands were trembling slightly with sudden panic.
Victoria was trying to hide the mother original will inside her purse.
Elena: Mr. Montgomery asked me to guard those papers carefully.
Victoria: You are a hired employee who knows nothing about this estate!
Lily: Stop yelling at my nanny, Victoria!
Victoria pointed her long fingernail directly at the crying four-year-old child.
Victoria: Keep your mouth shut and go to your bedroom now!
Elena held Lily hand firmly and walked toward the open door.
She knew she could not leave the legal papers in Victoria hands.
She made a mental note to call Mark driver as soon as possible.
The atmosphere inside the mansion was growing more dangerous by the hour.
Elena walked out to the marble foyer, shielding Lily from more sharp words.
She heard Victoria heels following closely behind them up the wide stairs.