Clara slipped through the side garden gate, her heart pounding in her chest as she moved silently past the lined hedges.
Clara: The kitchen key should still be under the stone planter...
She reached under the heavy ceramic pot, pulled out the brass key, and unlocked the rear entrance door.
Clara: Quietly... don't make a sound.
Inside, the house was unnaturally quiet. The voices were coming from Julian’s private study down the main corridor.
Julian: You don't need to read every page, Victoria! Just sign the authorization so the lawyers can handle the estate trust update!
Victoria: Why the sudden rush, Julian? My son is barely three weeks old, and you're demanding I transfer my trust fund control today?
Julian: Because after what that reckless maid did today, I realized how fragile life is! We need our assets fully protected under my wealth management firm!
Victoria: The maid said you were holding something when you walked in. What was it?
Julian: She’s a crazy woman trying to blackmail us! Are you going to take the word of a minimum-wage servant over your own husband?
Clara crept up to the heavy oak door of the study, holding her breath as she peered through the slight crack in the frame.
Victoria: I’m not taking anyone's word, Julian. I just want to look in your briefcase.
Julian: No! You will not question my authority in this family!
Victoria: Authority? It’s my family’s inheritance! My father left that trust to me and my child, not to you!
Julian: Without my management, your father’s estate would have gone bankrupt years ago! You owe me everything!
Victoria: Open the briefcase, Julian. Now.
Julian’s voice grew dangerously low and cold.
Julian: You’re making a huge mistake, Victoria. Just sign the document, or things are going to get very uncomfortable for you.
Clara: She’s not signing anything!
Clara pushed the study door wide open, stepping boldly into the room.
Julian: You again?! How did you get back inside my house?!
Victoria: Clara?
Julian: I’m calling the police right now! You are committing aggravated trespassing!
Clara: Go ahead, call them, Mr. Vance! Let them watch the high-angle backup video feed of you staging the baby's fall!
Julian’s phone slipped slightly in his hand.
Julian: What backup feed? That’s impossible!
Clara: The security technician saved the file five minutes ago. The camera on the corner pillar caught you intentionally knocking the carrier toward the edge so you could grab the paternity envelope before anyone saw it!
Victoria: Paternity envelope?! Julian... what is she talking about?
Julian: She’s making it up! She’s lying to protect herself!
Clara: Check his leather briefcase, Mrs. Vance! It’s right there on the desk! The brown envelope with the red laboratory seal!
Victoria didn't hesitate. She lunged across the mahogany desk and snatched the leather briefcase before Julian could react.
Julian: Victoria, put that down! Don't open that!
Victoria: Get away from me, Julian!
She popped the silver latches on the case and pulled out a thick document marked with an official medical emblem.
Victoria: 'Dallas Clinical Genetics Laboratory... Non-Paternity Exclusion Report'...
Julian: Victoria, listen to me, I can explain everything...
Victoria: You... you aren't the biological father of my baby?!
Clara: No, Mrs. Vance. Read the secondary page. Look at the names listed under the request.
Victoria turned the page, her eyes widening as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Victoria: Oh my God... this isn't my baby at all!
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