Victoria: You need to sign this right now, Clara, or you will not be walking down that aisle with my son.
Clara looked down at the thick document slapped onto the white marble dining table. The heavy gold-embossed crest of the Vance family shimmered under the chandelier light.
Clara: What is this, Victoria? We already agreed on our prenuptial terms weeks ago with our legal counsel.
Victoria: That was before I decided to safeguard my family estate from ambitious girls who come from nothing.
Julian: Mom, please, we promised we wouldn't bring paperwork to the engagement dinner.
Victoria: Quiet, Julian! If she truly loves you for who you are and not your future inheritance, she will sign away any claim to the trust fund, the brownstone, and any future support immediately.
Clara felt her blood run cold as she scanned the brutal clauses typed on the heavy bond paper.
Clara: This says if we ever divorce, I surrender full legal custody of any future children to your family without contest.
Victoria: Exactly. A woman without family wealth has no business raising a child who carries the Vance name.
Clara: Julian, tell me you did not know about this clause.
Julian stared at his polished shoes, avoiding his fiancée's burning gaze as the wealthy dinner guests watched in total silence.
Julian: Clara... it's just a formality. My mother just wants to protect our future estate. Just sign it so we can eat.
Clara: A formality? You are asking me to sign away my unborn children before I even put on a wedding dress!
Victoria: Sign it, or you can walk out that front door right now with your cheap purse and never look back.
Clara lifted her eyes to look at the man she was supposed to marry, hoping for a single sign of support or strength.
Clara: If I sign this paper, I sell my dignity. If I don't, you break this engagement right here?
Victoria: That is correct, my dear. Make your choice in front of everyone.
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