Evelyn: Clara, I'm begging you! If the police get involved, my name will be ruined! The private school will kick Leo out! Do you want a little boy to suffer because of a mistake?!
Clara: A mistake? Setting me up to be arrested isn't a mistake, Mrs. Sterling. That was a plan.
Mark: Don't let her manipulate you, Clara. If you want to press charges, my firm's legal team will represent you free of charge. You don't owe this woman anything.
Evelyn fell to her knees on the polished marble floor, her silk dress spreading out around her. Tears streamed down her face, smearing her makeup.
Evelyn: Please, Clara! I'm a mother, just like you! Think of my son!
Clara: I am thinking of my daughter. When I woke up at five o'clock this morning to take two buses to get to your penthouse, I kissed my daughter goodbye. I told her her mommy works hard so she can have a good life. If the police took me away today, who would have explained to my little girl why her mother was in handcuffs?
Evelyn: I was desperate! I owed people money... bad people! They threatened to come to the house!
Mark: What did you just say?
Mark stepped forward, his eyes growing wide with a new kind of terror. He glared down at his wife on the floor.
Mark: Who threatened to come to this house? Where my son sleeps?!
Evelyn: The bookies from the club! I lost thirty thousand dollars last week! They said if I didn't pay half by tonight, they'd pay us a visit!
Mark: You brought dangerous criminals to the doorstep of our home?!
Evelyn: That's why I needed the cash! That's why I pawned the ring! I was going to pay them today and tell you the maid stole it so we could claim the insurance to get the ring back later!
Mark took a deep breath, rubbing his temples with both hands. He looked sick to his stomach. He turned to the counter, picked up his phone, and dialed a number on speakerphone.
Security Guard: Front desk security, this is Marcus.
Mark: Marcus, this is Mr. Sterling in Penthouse 4B. I need two security guards up here immediately. And instruct the front gate that Mrs. Evelyn Sterling's vehicle access is revoked effective immediately.
Security Guard: Understood, Mr. Sterling. Officers are on the elevator now.
Evelyn: Mark, no! Don't do this! Let me get my things!
Mark: You have five minutes to grab your handbag and your coat. Anything else you want, your lawyer can request through mine. Get up off the floor.
Evelyn scrambled to her feet, her hands trembling uncontrollably. She looked at Mark, then at Clara, realizing that no amount of tears or excuses was going to save her this time.
Evelyn: You'll regret this, Mark! You'll never survive raising Leo without me!
Mark: I've been raising him without you for three years, Evelyn. You were just living in the same house.
Leave a Comment