They rushed to Arthur's office located three blocks away. Arthur plugged the USB drive into his desktop computer, while Victoria stood right over his shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest. The screen flickered to life, displaying a grainy black-and-white video file with a time stamp in the bottom right corner.
Arthur: It's a video file recorded from a nanny cam hidden inside your father's private hospital room.
Victoria: Press play, Arthur! Press play!
The video began to play. Richard Vance lay in his hospital bed, surrounded by heart monitors and IV lines. He appeared pale, weak, and barely able to lift his head from the pillows. Sitting beside him was Eleanor, accompanied by an unfamiliar man in a dark grey suit holding a stack of legal papers.
Video Voice (Eleanor): Come on, Richard. Just sign the bottom line right here. It will make everything so much easier for everyone.
Video Voice (Richard): No... I told you no... Where is Victoria? I want to see my daughter...
Video Voice (Eleanor): Victoria isn't coming, Richard! She's in Chicago closing her own deals! She doesn't care about you!
Video Voice (Richard): That's a lie... She called me this morning... I won't sign over my company to you...
Video Voice (Eleanor): You have to sign it! The medical bills for this private facility are astronomical, and I control your health proxy!
Video Voice (Attorney Miller): Mrs. Vance, if he is refusing to sign, we cannot legally notarize this document under state law.
Video Voice (Eleanor): Shut up, Miller! Grab his hand and put the pen between his fingers!
Victoria gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as she watched the horror unfold on the computer screen. On the video, Eleanor grabbed the elderly man's trembling right hand, physically forcing the pen down onto the paper and moving his hand to form a scribbled signature across the bottom page.
Video Voice (Richard): Stop... please... Eleanor, stop...
Video Voice (Eleanor): There! It's done! Now stamp it, Miller, before the nurses come back in!
The video recording paused as Arthur hit the stop button. The office went completely silent, save for the sound of Victoria's heavy, ragged breathing.
Victoria: She forced him... She literally forced his hand while he was screaming for help!
Arthur: This is not just civil fraud, Victoria. This is illegal coercion, elder abuse, and forgery under federal and state statutes.
Victoria: I want her arrested, Arthur! I want her taken out of my father's house in handcuffs!
Arthur: We have enough evidence right here to destroy her entire case in fifteen minutes. I am calling the Probate Judge and the District Attorney's office right now.
Victoria: Tell them to meet us at the estate. Eleanor thinks she's throwing a celebration dinner tonight with her friends.
Arthur: Oh, her celebration is about to end very abruptly, my dear. Grab the folder. We are going home.
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