Eleanor took a quick step backward, clutching her throat in visible terror and shock.
She looked frantically between her angry son and the exhausted daughter on the floor.
Eleanor: Son, listen to me... she's a liar!
Mark: Do not call her a liar when she was trapped beneath our living room floor!
Mark stood up tall and moved his young daughter gently behind his legs for protection.
He stared at his mother with eyes full of deep disappointment and blazing anger.
Mark: How long has Sarah been kept down in that dark pit, Mother?
Eleanor: It is not what it looks like, Mark!
Sarah: She locked me down there because I found out about Dad's will!
Mark turned his head back to look down at Sarah, whose voice was weak and trembling.
Mark: What are you talking about, Sarah?
Sarah: Dad left the entire estate and trust fund to both of us equally.
Sarah: Mother forged the papers to take full control of the vast family inheritance!
Mark felt a cold chill run down his spine as the painful truth hit him.
He remembered the day their father had passed away two years ago in the hospital.
Eleanor had presented legal documents showing she was the sole heir to the entire property.
Right after that sad funeral, Sarah had vanished without leaving behind a single note.
Eleanor had claimed Sarah ran away to Europe with a wealthy partner she never introduced.
Mark had searched for months, hiring private investigators who found no helpful trace of her.
Now he realized his own mother had lied to him every single day for two years.
Mark: You stole her freedom just to keep control of the money!
Eleanor: I did it to protect our family name and maintain our social standing!
Mark: You destroyed our family name the moment you committed this terrible crime!
Eleanor pointed a trembling finger at Sarah, her voice high and sharp with desperation.
Eleanor: She was going to ruin everything we built over thirty long years!
Eleanor: She wanted to give half our fortune away to local public charities!
Mark: It was Dad's money to give, not yours to steal!
Mark pulled his cell phone quickly out of his inner suit jacket pocket with steady hands.
Eleanor gasped loudly and stepped forward, reaching out her hands to stop him.
Eleanor: What are you doing with that phone, Mark?
Mark: I am calling the county sheriff's department right now.
Eleanor: You cannot arrest your own mother over a foolish domestic dispute!
Mark: You kept a human being locked under a floor like a prisoner, Mother.
Eleanor backed away toward the front entryway door, her face twisting in pure panic.
She looked around the vast decorated living room that she had fought so hard to keep.
The tall velvet curtains and gold framed paintings suddenly felt cold and entirely empty.
Mark pressed the phone buttons firmly and held the receiver close to his ear.
Mark: Yes, operator, I need emergency police officers at the grand manor immediately.