She quickly dashed out of the house, driving towards the location of the law firm that handled her sister's documents, using a map on her phone.
She felt a strong unease about the whole situation but decided to calm down till she was sure of every information. From the birth certificate to the company's documents, everything seemed fishy.
Arriving at the law firm, she read the sign that said "APEX LAW FIRM". The building was a two storey structure. She drew in a breath and entered into the building. Walking in, she met a receptionist.
"Good morning ma'am" the chubby lady greeted.
"Good morning. Please I want to see the lawyer here" She said and the lady looked at her with a confused expression.
"I'm sorry but I don't know the lawyer's name. He handled the documents regarding the Sterling Group years ago. I am miss Sterling and I need to see the lawyer in charge urgently" Ariana explained.
The lady studied her for some seconds before punching a number into the telephone by her left on the desk.
Ariana knew the lady doubted her identify due to her expression. She was carefully gauging Ariana's outfit, trying to see if her dressing and aura matched her words and it in fact did. The longer Ariana stared at her, the more it became pretty obvious the receptionist judged by looks, if she dressed tacky the lady won't have even given her a listening ear.
"Mister Andrew, a woman is here to see you. She said she's part of the Sterling family". The receptionist said and waited for a response before saying "Okay sir" and proceeded to hang up the phone.
Turning to Ariana, she said "Follow me". They both reached an office on the top floor "You can go in". The receptionist said before leaving Ariana's side and she knocked on the door twice before entering.
"Miss Sterling! It's been a while" The man behind the desk who looked like he was in his forties said standing up from his chair. He paused in his tracks as he took a proper look at the lady walking towards him.
He expected to see miss Sterling but the woman before him was a different person. "Ma'am, who are you please?" Mister Andrew asked.
"I'm Ariana Sterling" she called her name with so much grace and confidence whilst stretching her hand for a handshake the man reluctantly accepted.
"Lady I think you're making a mistake. There's only one Sterling family I've worked with and you weren't part of them" the man explained.
Ariana was surprised by how confident the man was that she want part of her own family. "Mister Andrews right? How can you be so unprofessional and not do proper research on your clients families before working with them?" She paused. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to ask you some questions thats all but before then..". Ariana took her phone out from her purse and went on the internet searching for information she could show to the man.
"Here you go" she handed him her phone revealing a picture of herself and her family. As you can see, I am in that photo and so is my younger sister Ava Sterling. The one I guessed you were expecting to see".
The look of realization covered the man's face. "I'm so sorry miss Sterling! I didn't know your parents had an older daughter. Please, come sit" the man offered her a chair in front of his desk.
"Thank you" she took her seat and looked at the office. It was neat, put together and conducive.
"What is it that you need?" The man asked taking his seat also, bringing her attention back to him.
"I wanted to speak about the deed of ownership of the Sterling Group. But from what I've seen it's obvious that you didn't know I even existed so the problem isn't from you. But I might need your help anyway" Ariana said before telling the man about the two different deeds of ownership that was signed at different times and also about how she suspected the law firm that worked on hers was a fraud.
Mister Andrews had a worried look on his face as he realized he had been caught up in family drama.
"Miss Ariana, I do apologise but Apex law firm is a registered law firm and because I helped with the documents your sister and parents signed five years ago she's actually the owner of the Sterling group by law. But I don't know anything about this Fidel Legal you speak of" the man referred to the law firm that organized Ariana's.
The worried look deepened on Ariana's face though she did her best to maintain a composed outlook.
"But if we find out that truly Fidel Legal is a fake law firm we can find the man who feigned the documents and everything then arrest him or fine him at least" he added.
"I'd really appreciate that. Thank you" Ariana said and she exchanged numbers with the man before taking her leave.
Ariana entered her car and was in deep thought as she remembered the moment her parents introduced her to lawyer of the so called Fidel Legal law firm. They convinced her he was a good lawyer and she believed them.
"Why would my parents even do this to me?" She asked herself and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"They made me work all these years and they had already transferred the company to Ava?" She bit her lips trying to comprehend how cruel her parents actions were.