Mark: Stay away from him, Vance! Step back right now!
Vance: Mr. Vance, I take my orders from Mrs. Sterling. Hand the child over quietly.
Mark: She is paying you with stolen money! Look at this boy, Vance! He has been living inside a wall! Is this what you signed up for?
Vance: I am paid to protect the security of this estate, sir. Nothing more, nothing less.
Leo: Don't let him take me, Dad! He's the one who put the lock on the secret door!
Mark: I am not your dad, Leo... but I swear to God, nobody is touching you tonight.
Mark stepped in front of Vance, shielding Leo with his own body. Eleanor stepped closer, her eyes cold as ice, her voice dripping with sharp, corporate authority.
Eleanor: Mark, stop being so dramatically naive. If this boy walks out that front door, the authorities will launch a full financial audit. They will freeze every bank account, seize the house, and put both of us in federal prison for asset fraud.
Mark: Both of us? I didn't lock a child in a wall!
Eleanor: Your signature is on every single inheritance distribution document, Mark. Every single dollar you spent on your investments, your cars, and your political campaign came from David’s estate. On paper, you are just as guilty as I am.
Mark: You framed me... from the very beginning, you made sure my name was on the fraud papers!
Eleanor: I protected our future! We are partners! Now let Vance take the boy to a quiet room, we finish the dinner, and then we work out a clean, legal arrangement for him in another state.
Mark: "A clean arrangement"? Like you arranged for his mother?
Eleanor's eyes flashed with a flicker of genuine rage, but she quickly masked it with a dark smile.
Eleanor: His mother made her choices. She accepted a cash settlement and left. The boy was never supposed to come back here.
Leo: My mom never left! She is in the hospital! This lady made her sick with the fake medicine!
Mark: What did you say, Leo? What fake medicine?
Leo: The pills in the blue bottle! My mom took them and got very sleepy, then the ambulance came. She told me to run and find the paper in the wall!
Mark reached down and looked at the glowing smartphone in Leo’s small hand. The screen was lit up with a video recording interface. A small red dot was blinking at the top left corner. The recording timer read 42 minutes and 15 seconds.
Mark: Leo... is this phone recording right now?
Leo: My mom said if the lady in blue ever talked to me, I had to press the red button. It streams to the cloud, just like my mom showed me.
Eleanor: What? Vance, take that phone right now!
Mark: Touch him and I will kill you, Vance!
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