The waiting room at St. Jude's Memorial Hospital was quiet, illuminated only by soft fluorescent lights.
Arthur sat in a leather chair, holding a paper cup of lukewarm coffee while Lily slept peacefully across two seats beside him.
The door swung open, and Doctor Harrison walked out wearing green surgical scrubs.
Arthur: Doctor! How is she?
Doctor Harrison: She's out of surgery, Mr. Sterling. The hip fracture was clean, and we were able to pin the bone successfully.
Arthur: Thank God. Can I see her?
Doctor Harrison: She's resting in recovery, but you can go in for a few minutes. She's tough, Arthur. Most people her age wouldn't have survived a fall like that.
Arthur: She had something worth fighting for.
Arthur gently squeezed Doctor Harrison's hand before waking Lily with a soft touch on her shoulder.
Arthur: Come on, sweetie. Grandma is awake.
They walked down the quiet hospital corridor, stopping outside Room 402.
Eleanor lay in the hospital bed, her face pale but her eyes clear as she looked toward the door.
Eleanor: Look at my two brave protectors.
Lily: Grandma!
Lily ran over to the side of the bed, being careful not to bump the monitors surrounding her grandmother.
Eleanor: Thank you, my little angel. If you hadn't spoken up, Victoria would have convinced Arthur it was just a trip.
Arthur: I almost fell for it, Mom. I was so caught up in wedding plans that I ignored every warning sign.
Eleanor: Love makes people blind, Arthur. But truth opens our eyes quickly enough.
A knock sounded at the door, and Officer Vance stepped into the room, holding a black leather notebook.
Officer Vance: Excuse me, Mr. Sterling. Mrs. Sterling. Do you have a moment?
Arthur: Did you find her?
Officer Vance: We pulled Victoria over three miles from the airport. She had two packed suitcases and a one-way ticket to Paris in her purse.
Eleanor: Paris... she was planning to run off with whatever she could convert to cash.
Officer Vance: It gets worse, sir. When we searched her apartment under the warrant, we found something else.
Arthur stood up, his brows furrowed in confusion.
Arthur: What else did you find?
Officer Vance: Bank transfer records dating back six months. She wasn't acting alone, Mr. Sterling.
Arthur: What are you talking about? Who was helping her?
Officer Vance: She was working with your family's estate lawyer, Richard Hayes.
Arthur gasped, taking a step back as the news hit him like a physical blow.
Arthur: Richard? He's managed our family accounts for twenty years!
Officer Vance: He was the one who gave her the combination to your study safe, Mr. Sterling. He was taking a twenty percent cut of every transfer she planned to make.
Eleanor: That snake... he sat at our dinner table last Christmas!
Arthur: Where is Richard now?
Officer Vance: Detectives are arresting him at his law firm downtown as we speak. We have enough paper evidence to charge them both with attempted grand larceny, fraud, and aggravated assault.
Arthur: Make sure neither of them gets bail, Officer.
Officer Vance: With the evidence your daughter provided and the security footage from your foyer, they won't be seeing the outside of a cell for a very long time.