The bright morning sun shone over the city, but the tension inside the downtown law offices of Vance & Associates was suffocating.
Clara sat on the leather sofa, holding a warm mug of tea as Arthur stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows with his lawyer, Marcus.
Marcus: Captain Miller, we reviewed the probate files your mother filed with the county court last Friday.
Arthur: What did you find, Marcus?
Marcus: She didn't just try to take custody of your child. She filed a motion to declare you legally dead and freeze all your military pay accounts.
Clara: She wanted to freeze our bank accounts?! How were we supposed to pay for the hospital birth?!
Marcus: She submitted a forged casualty report from the department of defense, signed by a fake military doctor.
Arthur: That is federal fraud! How did she get a military casualty form?
Marcus: She hired a private investigator named Richard Vance. He used to be an army clerk ten years ago.
Clara set her tea mug on the wooden coffee table, her hands shaking with deep emotional anger.
Clara: She wanted me to give birth alone in an eviction shelter... she wanted my baby delivered straight to her mansion!
Arthur: She wanted the ten-million-dollar trust fund, Clara. Under Grandfather's will, if the parents are deceased or deemed unfit, the legal guardian gets full control of the cash distribution.
Marcus: Exactly. Evelyn was setting herself up as the sole court-appointed trustee for the next eighteen years.
A sharp knock sounded at the heavy mahogany office door, and a young paralegal walked inside carrying a thick folder.
Paralegal: Mr. Vance, the emergency injunction from the state judge just came through.
Marcus: Excellent. What did the judge decide regarding the Miller Manufacturing shares?
Paralegal: All voting rights held by Evelyn Miller have been suspended pending her criminal trial.
Arthur let out a deep breath, running his hand through his short military hair.
Arthur: Thank God. That means she can't sell off the company equipment to pay her criminal defense lawyers.
Clara: Arthur... what about her private investigator? Is he still watching our house?
Marcus: We sent two private security guards to your residence an hour ago, Mrs. Miller. You are completely safe.
Arthur: I'm not leaving Clara's side for a single second until this trial is completely over.
Marcus: There is one more issue, Captain. Evelyn's attorney just filed for an emergency bail hearing this afternoon.
Clara: Bail?! After she threatened to burn me with an iron?!
Marcus: Her defense team is claiming she suffered a temporary mental breakdown due to grief over your supposed death, Arthur.
Arthur: Grief?! She was celebrating in her mansion with champagne the night before I arrived home!
Marcus: We need to prove that premeditation, Captain. Do you have any receipts or messages from her before the crash?
Clara reached into her handbag and pulled out her smartphone with a quick, nervous motion.
Clara: I have recorded voice messages she sent me three weeks ago... before Arthur's helicopter even took off!
Marcus turned around quickly, his eyes wide with sharp professional interest.
Marcus: Voice messages before the flight? Let me hear them right now, Mrs. Miller.
Clara tapped the screen, turning up the phone speaker as Evelyn's sharp, arrogant voice filled the quiet office.
Evelyn (Recording): Listen to me, you pathetic little waitress. Arthur is going on a dangerous mountain mission, and he isn't coming back. You better start packing your bags now because you won't last a week in my town without him.
Marcus smiled, closing his leather notepad with a decisive thud.
Marcus: That recording completely destroys her mental breakdown defense. Premeditated extortion and fraud.
Arthur: Let's get to that courthouse right now, Marcus. It's time to end this once and for all.
They walked out of the law office together, prepared to face the cold woman who tried to destroy their young family.