The marshals stepped inside, their presence commanding and undeniable.
Chloe immediately grabbed her designer purse from the side table.
Chloe: I don't know anything about his finances! I'm just his fiancée!
Clara: You're wearing a seven-carat sapphire necklace purchased last Friday using trust operational funds, Chloe.
Chloe froze mid-step, her face draining of color.
Chloe: He gave it to me as a gift!
Marshal Davis: Any items purchased with flagged trust capital within the last ninety days are subject to immediate surrender, ma'am.
Chloe ripped the necklace off her throat and shoved it into the marshal's gloved hand.
Chloe: Take it! I don't want it! Julian, you are a complete fraud!
Julian: Chloe, wait! Don't walk out on me!
Chloe: Lose my number. Have fun on the street.
She hurried past the officers, her heels clicking rapidly out the door into the morning fog.
Julian stood alone on the grand staircase, his empire collapsing around his shoulders in minutes.
Julian: Clara... please. Liam is my flesh and blood. You wouldn't throw his father out in the cold.
Clara: Liam has a family. He has the men and women who served with his grandfather, and he has a mother who will never let him go hungry.
Julian: What am I supposed to do? I don't have personal accounts outside the holding firm!
Clara: You have a college degree, Julian. Go get a job. Start from the bottom, like everyone else.
Julian looked down at the marble floor, where his hundred-dollar bills were still scattered across the polished stone.
He slowly dropped to his knees, his expensive suit trousers pressing into the hard tile, and began picking up the crumpled cash one bill at a time.
Clara: Leave the cash, Julian.
Julian stopped, his hand clutching three bills.
Julian: You said I needed money!
Clara: That cash came from the estate safe this morning. It belongs to Liam's healthcare trust.
Sheriff Miller stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Julian's shoulder.
Sheriff Miller: Stand up, son. Time to leave the premises.
Julian dropped the bills back onto the cold stone, tears of sheer humiliation finally tracking down his cheeks.
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