Carter: What in God’s name is going on here?!
Victoria: Carter! Darling, thank goodness you're back early! This ungrateful maid was talking back to me and neglected her duties!
Carter ignored Victoria entirely and rushed across the marble floor, kneeling beside Chloe. His eyes were wide with genuine concern as he gently helped her up.
Carter: Get away from my wife and child!
Victoria: What... what did you just say? Wife?! Are you out of your mind, Carter?
Carter: Are you okay, Chloe? Did she hurt Lily?
Chloe: She... she hit me, Carter. But that’s not the worst part...
Victoria: Don't listen to this liar! She’s just a house maid we hired last month! Carter, step away from her right now!
Chloe: She tried to drop the baby off the balcony!
The room went dead silent. Carter’s breathing hitched as he looked from Chloe’s tear-stained cheek to Victoria’s suddenly pale face. The air in the foyer felt ice-cold.
Carter: You... you did what?
Victoria: She’s lying! She’s making up insane stories because I threatened to fire her! Why would I do something like that?!
Chloe: She caught me in the nursery earlier, Carter! She said if I didn't sign the waiver giving up the trust fund rights, she’d make sure Lily suffered an accident over the railing!
Victoria: Shut up! Shut your mouth, you filthy servant!
Carter: Don't you dare raise your voice at her again!
Victoria stepped forward aggressively, snatching at Chloe’s arm. In a flash of protective fury, Carter stepped between them. The sound of his palm making contact with Victoria’s cheek echoed louder than the previous strike. Victoria reeled backward, losing her balance on her high heels, and crashed down onto the hard marble floor.
Victoria: You... you hit me?! You laid a hand on a Vance estate shareholder?!
Carter: You are not a Vance! You never were! And your reign of terror in this house ends right now!
Victoria: I am your brother’s widow! I own forty percent of this corporation! You can't touch me!
Carter: You think your stolen shares give you the right to abuse my family? You have no idea what I found in the legal vault today.
Victoria stared up at him from the floor, her gasp catching in her throat as Carter reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a thick envelope bound with red ribbon.
Victoria: What... what is that paper?
Carter: This is the original, unedited last will and testament of my late brother. The one you tried so hard to burn three years ago.
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