Arthur: Leo, stop talking nonsense! Your mother passed away in the hospital!
Boy: She didn't die in the hospital, Dad.
Arthur: What are you saying?! I was at the funeral! I watched them lower the casket!
Boy: Aunt Eleanor told the doctors to put the sheet over her face. But Mommy was still breathing.
The entire ballroom went completely silent. Guests stopped taking photos, their eyes darting between the furious billionaire, the crying waitress, and the quiet boy.
Waitress: Please, sir... my name is Clara. I just started working for the catering company tonight.
Arthur: Clara... take off that ring right now.
Clara: No! It's the only thing my mother left me before she disappeared!
Arthur: Your mother?! My wife, Victoria, owned this ring! It was custom designed by a jeweler in Paris! There is only one in the world!
Eleanor: Arthur! What is the meaning of this scene?!
Arthur's sister, Eleanor, pushed through the crowd of guests in her shimmering red gown. Her face was pale, her expensive diamond necklace sparkling under the lights.
Eleanor: You're harassing the catering staff in front of our biggest investors! Have you lost your mind?
Arthur: Eleanor, look at her hand.
Eleanor: It's just a piece of cheap glass! Let the girl go before someone calls the police!
Arthur: Look at it closely, Eleanor! That is Victoria's engagement ring!
Eleanor stopped in her tracks. Her eyes dropped to Clara's trembling, hand, and for a split second, pure terror flashed across her face.
Eleanor: That's... that's impossible. Victoria was buried wearing her jewelry.
Arthur: That's what I thought too! So how does a waitress have it on her finger right now?!
Clara: My mother gave it to me six months ago! She was sick and covered in bandages, but she put it in my hand and told me to keep it hidden!
Arthur: Six months ago... that was the exact week Victoria was declared dead after the car crash!
Eleanor: She's making up stories to steal money from our family estate! Security, throw this girl out!
Arthur: Nobody touches her!
Boy: Aunt Eleanor gave the man at the clinic a lot of cash, Dad.
Arthur turned sharply back to his young son, his breath catching in his throat.
Arthur: Leo, what cash? What clinic are you talking about?
Boy: The place in the woods. Where Aunt Eleanor took Mommy after the accident.
Eleanor: Leo, be quiet! You were just a child, you don't know what you saw!
Arthur: Let him finish, Eleanor! Speak, Leo!
Boy: Mommy didn't die in the crash. Aunt Eleanor locked her in the room so she could take the family business trust fund.
Arthur: Eleanor... what did you do to my wife?
Eleanor: He's confused, Arthur! The trauma of losing his mother made him imagine things!
Clara: She's not lying! My mother had dark hair and a scar on her left wrist! She told me her real name was Victoria!