The heavy front doors burst open, and Victoria marched back into the hallway, flanked by two uniformed security guards from the front gate.
Victoria: There she is! Arrest her immediately! She assaulted me inside my own home!
Security Guard: Ma'am, we need everyone to stay calm until the city officers arrive.
Victoria: I am the owner of this estate! I don't pay your security firm to tell me to be calm!
Arthur: You are not the owner of this estate, Victoria.
Victoria froze, turning her head toward Arthur with a tight, nervous sneer.
Victoria: Arthur, what are you doing out of your study? This maid just put her hands on me!
Arthur: She protected her child from a bully. That is what any loving mother would do.
Victoria: That child doesn't belong in this house! She brought him here illegally!
Arthur: That child has more right to stand in this hallway than you ever will, Victoria.
Victoria: What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind in your old age?
Arthur stepped forward, handing the thick folder to the head security guard.
Arthur: Officer, please review pages three through seven. You'll find a certified copy of Richard Vance's legal marriage certificate to Clara Vance.
Victoria's face drained of color as her eyes widened in complete panic.
Victoria: That's a fake! Richard was never married to her! She was just his nurse before he died!
Clara: I was his wife for four years, Victoria. We were married in Boston before Richard fell ill.
Victoria: Shut up! You're a low-class house cleaner! You forged those papers to steal my money!
Arthur: Richard's entire estate, including this mansion, was left in a primary trust fund for his legal wife, Clara, and his biological heir, Leo.
Victoria: Richard left everything to ME! I have his signed will in my safe upstairs!
Arthur: You have a forged will that you forced a corrupt notary to sign three days after Richard went into a coma.
Victoria took a step back, her dark satin blouse trembling as she looked around at the security guards.
Victoria: That's a lie! Arthur is making this up because he hates me!
Security Guard: Ma'am, we need you to step away from the hallway. We have two city police cruisers pulling into the driveway right now.
Victoria: Good! Tell them to arrest this maid and this senile old man!
Arthur: The police aren't here for Clara, Victoria. I filed a federal wire fraud and estate embezzlement complaint against you two hours ago.
Victoria: Embezzlement?! I managed this estate's payroll!
Arthur: You stole three million dollars from my son's trust fund and forced his widow to work as a maid in her own house just to feed her child.
Clara gasped, looking at Arthur with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.
Clara: She knew who I was the whole time?
Arthur: She hired you through a private staffing agency under an alias, Clara. She wanted to keep you broke, tired, and too scared to look into Richard's legal affairs.
Clara: You monster... you watched me scrub your floors every day while my son lived in a cramped one-bedroom apartment!
Victoria: You deserve to scrub floors! You were nothing compared to my family!
Two city police officers entered through the open front doors, their heavy boots clicking against the marble.
Police Officer: Victoria Vance?
Victoria: Officer, thank goodness! Arrest these people for trespassing!
Police Officer: Victoria Vance, you are under arrest for grand larceny, forgery, and illegal estate fraud.