The following afternoon, Clara and Mark entered the top-floor boardroom of Vance Enterprises in downtown Dallas.
David Vance, a sharply dressed executive in his fifties, sat at the head of a mahogany conference table surrounded by three corporate lawyers.
David Vance: I don't know who allowed you people up here, but you have five seconds to leave before security removes you.
Clara: You might want to hold off on calling security, David. We are here regarding the 1968 Vance Family Trust settlement.
David Vance: That estate was settled fifty years ago. My father inherited the firm fair and square.
Mark: Your father committed grand larceny, fraud, and estate theft by forging my grandmother's signature after her accident!
David Vance: That is an absurd, slanderous allegation! You have no proof!
Clara calmly laid a thick folder of certified copies on the center of the polished table.
Clara: Here is the original 1968 deed, the forensic handwriting analysis, and the hidden ledger from Emily's iron box.
The corporate lawyers immediately leaned forward, scanning the documents with growing panic on their faces.
Lawyer: Mr. Vance... these documents bear authentic 1968 county clerk stamps and an unsealed court notary seal.
David Vance: What? Let me see those!
Mark: Your father lied to the probate court, separated two orphan sisters, and stole their entire inheritance to build this company.
David Vance: This is ancient history! You cannot overturn a fifty-year-old estate ruling!
Clara: Under Texas probate law, fraud vitiates everything. Because the original theft involved forged court filings, there is no statute of limitations.
Lawyer: Mr. Vance, if this goes to trial, the court can freeze all company assets and force a complete financial audit back to 1968.
David Vance: What do you people want?
Mark: We want a full public admission of what your father did, and the return of every single asset stolen from my mother.
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