Beatrice: Back away from me, Ethan! If you touch me, I'll have you arrested for domestic assault! The security cameras will show you lunging at me!
Ethan: You hit my daughter.
Beatrice: She's a spoiled brat who needed discipline!
The crack of Ethan's palm striking Beatrice’s face echoed throughout the entire mansion. The force of the blow spun Beatrice around, knocking her off her high heels and sending her crashing hard onto the polished white floor.
Beatrice: Ah! You broke my jaw! You animal!
Ethan stood over her, his chest heaving with cold, unyielding rage.
Ethan: That was for Clara. Now tell me what you did with Victoria's passport and wedding rings.
Beatrice: Go to hell! You're going to lose everything, Ethan! Vance Logistics belongs to my investment group now!
Ethan: Do you really think I didn't verify the offshore wire transfers three days ago?
Beatrice froze on the floor, clutching her bleeding lip with trembling red fingers.
Beatrice: What did you say?
Ethan: My chief financial officer flagged the eight-million-dollar transfer request sent from your private server on Tuesday night.
Beatrice: You told me you were in New York for an acquisition meeting!
Ethan: I was in Washington, Beatrice. Sitting across the table from the United States Postal Inspection Service and the FBI fraud division.
Beatrice: You're bluffing! You don't have any proof!
Ethan reached down, grabbed Beatrice firmly by the arm, and hauled her across the floor toward the heavy front entrance.
Ethan: You are finished in this house, and you are going straight to federal prison!
Beatrice: Let go of me! Ethan, stop dragging me! Victoria, tell him to stop! We were friends for ten years!
Victoria slowly pushed herself up from the velvet sofa, her hollow eyes burning with fierce, renewed strength as she looked Beatrice dead in the eyes.
Victoria: Friends don't leave each other to die in the dark, Beatrice. Friends don't slap little girls across the face.
Beatrice: Victoria, please! I gave you water! I gave you bread!
Victoria: You shoved bread down a trapdoor like I was an animal in a cage. You laughed while I begged to hear Clara’s voice.
Ethan kicked the grand entrance door wide open into the blazing Texas afternoon sunlight. In the circular driveway outside, three dark federal SUVs were already idling, their red and blue strobe lights flashing silently against the manicured hedges.
Ethan: They've been waiting at the gate for my confirmation call, Beatrice. They heard every single word through the live security feed on my phone.
Beatrice: No... no, Ethan, please! We can settle this out of court! I'll return every single dollar! I'll sign the full property surrender right now!
Ethan: You won't sign another paper outside the presence of a federal magistrate.
Ethan pulled her across the threshold onto the stone porch as four uniformed federal agents rushed up the front steps, their badges glinting in the midday sun.
Agent Miller: Step away from the suspect, Mr. Vance. Beatrice Sterling, put your hands behind your back right now!
Beatrice: Ethan! Tell them this is a civil misunderstanding! Tell them we're engaged!
Ethan: I never loved you, Beatrice. I never even trusted you. And now, you're going to pay for every second of terror you caused my family.
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