Richard wiped a smear of white frosting from his suit sleeve, his expression completely blank, hiding a volcano of pure disgust.
Richard: How long did you think you could play this game in my house?
Victoria: Richard, listen to reason! Elena has hated me since the day we met! She wants to ruin our relationship!
Elena: I don't care about your relationship, Victoria. I care about the two point four million dollars missing from Lily's inheritance trust account.
Victoria: That was an authorized transfer for property renovations!
Elena: Lily is the sole beneficiary of that fund. Nobody can authorize withdrawals without Richard's dual signature and a verified court order.
Victoria: Richard gave me verbal permission last month during dinner!
Richard: I never gave you permission to touch a single dime of my daughter's future.
Lily held onto Richard's pant leg, looking up at Victoria with wide, curious eyes.
Lily: Did she steal Mom's jewelry too, Daddy?
The entire foyer went dead silent, except for the hum of the air conditioning through the tall vents.
Richard: What did you say, Lily?
Lily: Mom's pearl necklace. The one in the blue velvet box inside your private safe.
Victoria: Don't listen to her! She is making up wild stories to get attention!
Richard: Lily, look at me. What did you see?
Lily: Last Tuesday when you were in New York for the board meeting, Victoria had a man in the study. He had a black metal drill.
Elena: That explains the safe door sensor malfunction on Tuesday at three in the morning.
Victoria: She is lying! She was asleep in her bedroom!
Lily: I woke up to get a glass of water. Victoria saw me and told me if I told you, she would send me away to boarding school in Switzerland.
Richard clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned completely bloodless.
Richard: You threatened to ship my daughter overseas?
Victoria: It was a harmless discipline joke! Parents say things like that all the time to keep kids in line!
Richard: You are not her parent! You never were, and you never will be!
Elena: The safe contained bearer bonds, three family heirloom watches, and Sarah's original diamond wedding set.
Victoria: I didn't take them! Check my purse right now! Check my bedroom!
Elena: We already checked your vehicle outside, Victoria. A private security team searched your Mercedes trunk ten minutes ago under the estate grounds search waiver.
Victoria: That is an illegal search! You violated my civil rights!
Elena: Every vehicle entering this gated compound signs a property access disclosure. You signed it yourself three months ago.
Elena reached into her leather briefcase and pulled out a clear plastic evidence pouch holding a blue velvet jewelry box.
Elena: Sarah's pearls. Found right underneath your spare tire compartment next to a one-way ticket to Zurich.
Victoria's knees buckled slightly, but she grabbed the piano rim tighter, trying to keep her posture straight.
Victoria: Someone planted that there! It's a setup! Your staff framed me because they know I was going to fire them after the wedding!
Richard: My staff has been with my family for twenty years. You have been here for six months.
Victoria: Richard, please! Look at all the good times we had! Look at the charity gala last week!
Richard: At the gala where you charged forty thousand dollars of designer gowns to my corporate credit line without asking?
Victoria: I needed to look the part! I was representing your family brand!
Richard: You were representing your own greed.
Richard stepped forward, closing the distance between them until he was standing just two feet away from her trembling face.
Richard: Give me the ring.
Victoria: What? No! You gave this to me! It is an unconditional gift!
Richard: That ring belonged to my grandmother. Under Texas law, a conditional engagement gift must be returned if the marriage does not take place.
Victoria: We are still getting married! We can fix this! We can go to couples counseling!
Richard: Take it off before I have Elena add grand larceny charges for the ring as well.
Victoria looked down at her left hand, her fingers curling tight into a stubborn fist.
Leave a Comment