Brandon: What is the meaning of this, Evelyn? Why do these files have your private digital signature on them?
Evelyn: Brandon, darling, don't look at those fake documents! That maid brought those lies into our house to extort us!
Clara: I didn't bring anything! Maya hid that red drive inside the baby's stroller before the police dragged her away last week!
Brandon: Shut up, both of you! I'm reading the raw system audit logs right now!
Evelyn: Logs can be altered by any computer technician, Brandon! You know how sophisticated corporate hackers are these days!
Brandon: These logs came from the state registry server, Evelyn! They show that three years ago, someone paid a half-million-dollar bribe to wipe my name off this child's birth certificate!
Evelyn: It was Maya! She wanted to claim the trust fund for herself!
Brandon: Maya didn't have five hundred thousand dollars in an offshore account, Evelyn. But you did.
Brandon set the tablet down on the mahogany table with a heavy thud. He held his son securely against his chest, his dark eyes locked onto Evelyn with a cold, lethal focus that made her step back against the crib railing.
Evelyn: You're listening to a servant over your own sister?
Brandon: I'm listening to the truth! I found you standing over my son's crib with a lighter in your hand!
Clara: She was threatening to burn his blanket, Mr. Sterling! She was trying to force me to tell her where Maya hidden the drive!
Evelyn: I was only trying to scare her into talking, Brandon! She was keeping secrets from the family!
Brandon: You threatened an infant with fire in his own home? Are you completely insane?
Evelyn: I did it to protect our inheritance! Father left eighty percent of the Dallas estate to his direct biological grandson! If that baby is proven to be your son, I get nothing!
Brandon: So you tried to erase his identity? You tried to convince the entire world that I wasn't his father?
Evelyn: Victoria helped me! Victoria was the one who forged the hospital records while you were away in London!
Brandon took a slow, deliberate step forward, his polished shoes clicking sharply against the white marble tiles. The baby stopped crying, resting his small head against Brandon's suit lapel as the tension in the room reached a boiling point.
Brandon: Victoria was working with you this whole time?
Evelyn: She had just as much to lose as I did, Brandon! Father's will explicitly stated that if you had a male heir, the entire corporate board seat transferred to his trust fund automatically!
Clara: Mr. Sterling, Maya tried to tell you three weeks ago before they framed her for theft! Victoria planted those diamond necklaces in Maya's bag to get her arrested!
Brandon: I know, Clara. I was a fool for trusting them. I thought Maya was trying to shake me down for money.
Evelyn: She was shaking you down! She came from nothing! She wanted the Sterling name!
Brandon: She wanted our son to be safe! That's why she recorded everything on this red drive before Victoria called the police on her!
Evelyn's breath caught in her throat. She looked at the red USB stick lying next to the tablet, realizing that every email, every wire transfer, and every forged signature was now completely exposed.
Evelyn: Brandon... please. We can fix this within the family. We don't need lawyers or police officers involved.
Brandon: You brought a lighter to a baby's crib, Evelyn. You are no longer family to me.