Evicted In Chains

Evelyn backed toward the staircase, clutching the silk lapels of her robe as sheer terror finally set in.

Evelyn: Roman... please, you don't understand the pressure I was under! Your father's will left me with nothing if you didn't produce an heir with me!

Roman: You are a monster.

With blinding speed, Roman’s open palm struck across her cheek, the deafening slap echoing through the high ceilings.

Evelyn crumpled to the floor with a strangled cry, her hair spilling in disarray across the tiles.

Roman bent down, his iron grip clamping onto her upper arm like a vice.

Evelyn: Let go of me! You're breaking my bones! Guards, stop him!

Not a single security officer moved. Marcus and the rest of the private detail stood like stone statues, blocking every exit.

Roman dragged her across the slick marble floor toward the open double doors, her silk robe shredding against the threshold.

Roman: I am divorcing you! You are going straight to federal prison!

Evelyn: You can't divorce me! We don't have a signed postnup! I will take half of everything you own!

Roman: Attempted murder of a minor voids every marriage contract in the United States.

He hoisted her up and shoved her out past the grand pillars onto the exterior stone terrace, sending her skidding onto the gravel drive.

Two Dallas police cruisers pulled up at that exact second, their sirens wailing and lights flashing blue and red across the facade.

Roman: Get out of my house forever!

The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut with a deafening boom that rattled the crystal chandeliers overhead.

Inside, Roman stood by the entrance, his chest heaving as the adrenaline slowly ebbed from his veins.

He turned back to the center of the foyer where Rosa was now sitting on a velvet settee, rocking baby Leo in her arms.

Roman walked over, kneeling before the woman who had protected his son with her own life.

Roman: Rosa.

Rosa: Mr. Sterling... the baby is warm, but he's resting peacefully now.

Roman took both of Rosa's weathered hands in his, a single tear cutting down his rugged face.

Roman: You took a fall onto concrete marble to shield my boy. You broke your wrist, didn't you?

Rosa looked down at her swollen, purple wrist, wincing slightly as she shook her head with a gentle smile.

Rosa: As long as little Leo is safe, a broken bone doesn't matter.

Roman: It matters to me. From this day forward, you are never cleaning another room or washing another dish.

Rosa blinked, her eyes widening in confusion and worry.

Rosa: Sir? Are you sending me away?

Roman: Never. You are Leo's legal godmother. And this estate is just as much your home as it is mine.