Ryan: Open this door right now! Where are the keys?!
Ryan slammed his shoulder against the painted white wood of his office door, but the reinforced brass lock held firm.
Claire: The keys are in the possession of the court receiver, Ryan.
Ryan: You have no legal authority to lock me out of my own workspace!
Claire: This house belongs to the Sterling Trust, Ryan. My father bought it ten years before I ever met you.
Ryan: I paid the property taxes for five years!
Claire: You paid the taxes using the dividends from my mother's life insurance policy!
Chloe came running down the hall, holding her designer handbag tightly against her chest.
Sister: Ryan, there are two black town cars pulling up to the front security gate right now!
Ryan: Tell the gate guard not to open the gates!
Claire: The gate guard works for my family's security firm, Ryan. He already opened them.
Ryan rattled the door handle violently, the sound echoing through the tall plaster hallways of the mansion.
Ryan: Claire, please! Just listen to me for five minutes! We can work this out without involving lawyers!
Claire: You had three years to work this out, Ryan. Every time I asked about our corporate tax filings, you told me not to worry my pretty little head.
Ryan: I was trying to protect you from the corporate stress!
Claire: You were protecting yourself from going to prison for securities fraud!
Claire held up the bright blue clipboard, flipping back the heavy plastic cover to reveal three thick stacks of legal papers sealed with gold foil stamps.
Claire: Do you recognize these signatures, Ryan?
Ryan squinted at the top document, his pale skin turning completely grey under the hallway lights.
Ryan: Where... where did you get those files?
Claire: From your personal safe behind the painting in the library.
Ryan: You broke into my safe?! That is illegal search and seizure!
Claire: The safe was registered under my father's estate inventory, Ryan. I didn't break into anything; I opened what belonged to me.
Sister: Ryan... is that your handwriting on those papers?
Claire: It's a forged version of my handwriting, Chloe. He signed my name to transfer eight million dollars of corporate stock into his sister's holding company.
Chloe stumbled backward, her hand going over her mouth in sheer horror.
Sister: What?! Ryan, you put my name on forged stock transfers?!
Ryan: Chloe, stay calm! It was just a temporary tax buffer!
Sister: Tax buffer?! I can go to jail for federal tax fraud!
Claire: Exactly, Chloe. Unless you cooperate fully with the forensic accountants standing on the front porch right now.
Sister: I'll tell them everything! I didn't sign anything! I didn't even know what that holding company was for!
Ryan: Chloe, shut your mouth! Don't you dare betray your own brother!
Sister: You used my name to cover up your crimes, Ryan! You betrayed me first!
The heavy front double doors of the mansion clicked open, and three men in sharp grey suits walked into the marble foyer carrying black leather briefcases.
Auditor 1: Mrs. Sterling? I am Thomas Miller with the forensic accounting team.
Claire: Good morning, Mr. Miller. The documents you requested are right here on this clipboard.
Ryan backed away from the locked office door, his hands trembling as he looked at the three auditors approaching him.