Julian: What evidence are you talking about, Clara?
Clara: Your father thought he destroyed all of my mother's records back in 2004. He paid off doctors, scrubbed hospital logs, and threatened her lawyers.
Victoria: Because she was a nobody! A opportunistic liar looking for a payday from a wealthy military officer!
Clara: My mother was your grandfather's lawfully wedded wife. They married in secret overseas before he ever returned to start this corporate empire. That makes her marriage valid under federal law, and it makes me the sole legal heir to fifty percent of the primary estate.
Julian: A secret marriage? That's impossible. Grandfather never mentioned a word about a prior marriage in his will.
Clara: Because your father hid the original will. The one sitting in the central bank vault isn't the final version.
Victoria: You're insane! You're making up crazy stories because you want our money!
Clara: Am I? Julian, ask your father why he transferred two million dollars out of the family holding company last Tuesday to a quiet offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands.
Julian turned his head slowly toward the back of the ballroom, where his father, Arthur Vance, was standing near the grand staircase. Arthur’s face was flushed, sweat glistening on his forehead despite the cool evening air.
Julian: Father? Is what she saying true? Did you move money out of the corporate trust?
Arthur: Don't listen to this crazy girl, Julian! She's trying to ruin our family's reputation at our own charity event!
Clara: You moved that money because you found out I filed the petition for probate contest two weeks ago. You were preparing to liquidize assets and flee the jurisdiction before the federal auditors arrived.
Victoria: Shut up! Just shut up! You're nothing but a lowly servant!
Clara: I was a servant when I needed to gather proof inside this house. I've spent six months going through your father's office, photographing financial ledgers, hidden safe records, and the original, unedited Last Will and Testament of General Thomas Vance.
Arthur: You broke into my personal safe?! That is a felony!
Clara: It's not a felony when the safe belongs to an estate that I partially own. My attorney has already handed the original documents over to the state prosecutor half an hour ago.
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