Arthur typed quickly on his keyboard, calling his senior private investigator on speakerphone.
Investigator: Good evening, Mr. Sterling. How can I help you?
Arthur: Sam, I need a complete background check on Clara's financial records for the last five years. Everything. Right now.
Investigator: Give me twenty minutes, sir. Did something happen?
Arthur: She just assaulted my daughter in front of two hundred people. And I suspect she knew more about my past than she let on.
Investigator: Understood. I'll pull the medical and financial archives immediately.
Maya looked up from her tea cup, her green eyes wide with worry.
Maya: Dad... do you think Clara knew who I was?
Arthur: I'm going to find out. She married me three years ago, right after I established the family trust fund for my future heirs.
Maya: If I'm alive... the trust fund goes to me, right?
Arthur: Exactly. If there was no living child, sixty percent of my estate was set to go directly to Clara upon my death.
Ten minutes later, the study door knocked softly. The head housekeeper, Mrs. Gable, stepped inside carrying a tray of warm soup and bread.
Mrs. Gable: Mr. Sterling... I brought something for the young lady.
Arthur: Thank you, Mrs. Gable. Please, come in.
Mrs. Gable: I saw what happened in the banquet hall, sir. I... I have to confess something.
Arthur: What is it?
Mrs. Gable: Three weeks ago, Mrs. Sterling went through the new staff files in the back office. She saw Maya's application form and her birth date.
Maya: She looked at my files?
Mrs. Gable: Yes, dear. She saw your maiden name was Miller, which was the name of the nurse who took you. Clara made a phone call right in front of me. She sounded terrified.
Arthur: What did she say on the phone, Mrs. Gable?
Mrs. Gable: She said, "The girl is here. Make sure those old hospital adoption records stay buried, or we both go to prison."
Arthur slammed his fist onto the desk, rattling the coffee cups.
Arthur: She knew! The entire time, she knew Maya was my missing child!